Cherry Blossoms!

If you are out and about around Newport News, be sure to drive down Canon Boulevard.  The cherry blossoms are beautiful!  My pictures don't do them justice, there aren't many spots to pull over to take pictures.  And I certainly couldn't while I was driving, but I did find one safe place to pull over.

Stay safe!  Life is great!  And God Bless America!

Yep! I Am Guilty of This!

And sometimes they even reply and we have a conversation!   And those conversations are much better than we can get from some people!  😊

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

I Love That Smell!

I just came in from sitting on the patio and breathing deep.  Ahhhhhhh!  I love the smell of shredded cedar!

Five yards of shredded cedar mulch was delivered this morning followed by the crew to clean out the mulched areas and the rock areas and then spread that mulch.  The work is done now.  Everything is cleaned up and they carried away all the bags they filled.  I think there were at least a dozen of the big yard bags full of pine cones, leaves, Gingko balls, etc.  The man will contact us when he is able to come back and do the drainage work we need on the sides of our property.

As soon as our mower comes back home from getting its tire fixed Les will be out there mowing.  I have a clay pot to plant with flowers that will go in the area where St. Francis is posted.  The new small tree has lots of buds and will be blooming soon.

I didn't take a front picture because we have a dug up circle in the middle of the yard where the dying tree was taken out and the stump ground out.  Soon it will be cleaned up, some topsoil put in and then seeded, and we'll be all good out front.

Life is good!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Nice Day

It's a nice, sunny day here and 68 degrees right now.  We have friends who are here in the area for a reunion and six of us went to dinner last evening and got to visit.  Good time!  The guys are playing golf today.

Jacquie sent me a message and said everyone was out in the yard at her house and if I was out to stop by.  I wasn't out, but I went over for a bit.  The little ones were jumping on their new trampoline.  There was lots of giggling happening.

While they were hopping around, the dog, Nikola, was jumping underneath them, Chris and Jordan were working on getting the garden ready, and Jacquie was keeping an eye on all of them and keeping me company on the deck.

I am back home now and finishing up the laundry and a bunch of desk stuff.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Just Because

from "I Can Haz Cheezburger"

Stay safe, people.

Happy Spring!

No matter what the weather, have a beautiful day!

Stay safe and God Bless America!  Life is great!

Just Some Updates

I hope everyone is well and happy!  It's the time of year when our "every six months" check-ups are happening.  There seem to be more of those for me than for Les, but we both have some.  And add to  my appointments the ones with my orthopedic doctor right now and the PT I was having.  But, we are doing okay and my pain level seems to be decreasing, although there are times that I still really hurt.

Jacquie's group is doing well.  Cutie Girl is making progress in school and has a very good teacher and some helpers.  Jordan finished her Associates' Degree at TNCC and has been accepted to ODU in the Fall.  Little Miss E is a busy little lady and cuter every day!  Jacquie is busy preparing for her speech at the National convention for LifeNet this Summer.




Pam's group is doing well.  Boxer and Bloomer are picking their classes for the next school year.  They have another school break coming up and then they will only have a short time until Summer break.  I know they will stay busy, especially with Boxer learning to drive!  Pam has had some traveling for work, and also for building up "The Stitch" business.

So, in a nutshell, everyone is busy!

Les and I are hoping the weather stays calm so some needed yard work can be done.  We had to postpone it due to mud and puddles. 

Les and his golf buddies are looking forward to their annual "guys' trip" to Myrtle Beach.  For Les and a couple others it is some extra practice for the Retirees Tournament the end of May.  I am looking forward to the tournament and a week at the beach and visiting with friends.

So, life is great!  All is well.  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Stay safe and God Bless America!  Life is great!

Yep!

This pretty much says it all.  Stay safe and have a good day.  Life is great!

Happy Pi Day!

Stay safe and have a great day!

Busy Week!

Seems like the calendar is full this week.  I have PT appointments, a dentist appointment, and a check-up with our GP Doctor.  I've had a list of phone calls to make, and a few errands, too.

We rescheduled the yard work that was supposed to happen this week.  We still have puddles in a couple places and lots of soft ground and mud.  Going to try again in a couple weeks.

We had a couple warmer days that were nice and it is now cool again, but the sun has been shining so that makes everyone feel better.  The guys are glad to get back out on the golf course.

The bursitis is better some days and then gets worse, then better, back and forth.  I am tired of this.  While I may be getting stronger from the PT (so they are telling me), I still get really tired dealing with the pain of this.

We got a call that our taxes were finished so we went and signed the papers and will watch for our refunds soon.

One of the errands was getting to the car wash.  Kirk hasn't been this clean in months!  Glad I could go and get that done.

Other than these things, I've just been trying to keep up with things around the house and taking care of odds and ends.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Mr. Gnome Is Also Ready for Warmer Weather!

And since I am thinking about Spring flowers, here is an update on the porch pansies....

Stay safe and God Bless America!  Life is great!

Just Some Thoughts and Wonderings

I can not personally solve the world's problems; no one can.  I think the best we can do is all try to be responsible and kind and be nice.  If everyone - and I mean everyone - would try that it might make a difference.

I was getting groceries this week and was on the aisle where the dried fruits are.  Does anyone really, really need chocolate covered prunes???

We were watching a show and a comment was made about how many thousands of spies are in the country doing evil things.  If someone knows where they are and they are being counted, why can't someone just catch them and do something about them???

I needed to purchase a new electric toothbrush for us.  Why do I need my toothbrush to have Blue Tooth technology???  I don't need my phone to talk to my toothbrush.  I am quite capable of taking care of brushing my teeth without my phone reminding me.  Sadly, I couldn't find one without this, so it just won't be turned on.

I believe God made everyone.  But why did He use a teaspoon when giving out brains to some people???  Sometimes, stupid and ignorant just can't be fixed.  Common sense is a really good thing.

Why don't people think before letting words come out of their mouths???  I am sure this has been a problem since humans learn to speak.

And why, oh why, don't people make use of spell check and grammar check and then proof read what they write???

According to the news there are businesses that want to stop accepting cash for payment.  Sorry, I see some businesses losing me as a customer if that happens.  I know, I know, just swiping a card might be easier.  But, you know, sometimes it just amuses me to watch clerks try to figure out how to make change.  One of these days, I am taking some of my dollar coins with me and using those.  Then they'll really be confused!

And on that happy note, remember that life is great!  Enjoy it!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

Remember Your Clocks!

If some of the politicians get their wishes this might be the last time we do this.  But for this year, remember to "Spring Forward" tonight!

Have a Blessed Shrove Tuesday

And good luck to all of you who observe Lent by giving up certain things.  Some religions are stricter than others with that practice, and it is a personal choice.

For anyone not familiar with the term "Shrove Tuesday", this is the day before the beginning of Lent and the Easter season.  Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.  Shrove Tuesday is also called "Fat Tuesday".  It is the day to use up and eat all the things you are giving up for Lent.  And for a lot of folks those things are sugary and fatty foods.

It is traditional to have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to use up the sugar and fats in your kitchen.  Hence all the pancake suppers this evening.

When I was a little girl in Navarre, Ohio, I believe it was the Kiwanis Club that always sponsored a pancake and sausage supper on Shrove Tuesday.  It was held in the school's cafeteria.  Mom and I usually went.  Nice memories.

Our small town had three churches - two were Protestant and one was Catholic.  We all got along just fine.  While the Catholics gave up more things for Lent, the Protestants had our own traditions, too.  There were the Wednesday evening church services for Lent.  All the kids who were in the confirmation class at the time had to sit in the very front row of pews, right in front of the preacher.  We were expected to take notes and take a quiz at the next class.

So, remember to thank God for your blessings and stay safe.  Life is great!

Made Me Laugh!

We've had some very windy days around here lately.  I went out to fill the bird feeder one day and saw this.  Looked like a newly planted tree!  Nope!  Just one of the branches that has blown down.

Life is great!  Stay safe and don't get blown away!  God Bless America!

Blue Birds!

Just recently I started seeing actual Blue Birds in our yard!  We have always had a good mix of birds come, but this is the first year I've see these beauties!  They were just sitting there on the fence this morning. 

You can see my solution to the feeder getting emptied out overnight.  I went and got a thick bungee cord to hold down the lid.  I don't mind all the wildlife coming by and snacking, but "someone", or maybe more than "one", was getting greedy.  I'd look out in the mornings and the lid would be flipped back and all the seed gone.  So I fixed it.  It's funny to see the squirrels snacking now.  They wedge in behind the cord to get a bite.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!

P.S.  It is still raining here.

Scenes from the Yard

There are several things around the yard that I would be thinking about doing, but we have someone scheduled to do some work for us.  That will include working on the drainage issues, cleaning out the mulched areas and cleaning out the river rocks at the back of the yard, and spreading mulch.  Normally, I would be out there trying to do the cleaning up, but this year I am just leaving it for the man to do.  The bursitis has sort of limited my bending, stooping, reaching capabilities but I am slowly getting better.  😊  And right  now it is dark, cold, and raining again!!

And I am telling you this because I took some pictures of budding hydrangeas and there are a lot of dead leaves all around them.  But here you go, if you are one of the snowed-in people, keep thinking "Spring"!

And to help those thoughts, here is a new picture of our potted pansies.  Both pots have many little flower buds coming up and starting to open.

Life is great!  Stay safe and God Bless America!