HARD Yard Work, A Center Fold, and an UGLY Faucet!!!

 Louis Dean and I spent the entire day outside - WORKING!

I did NOT look PRETTY!

However, I DID wear earrings!

After several hours of hard sweaty work - I was tired to the bone!

I can't tell you how GOOD it felt to just stretch out right there in the front yard!

No telling what my neighbors were thinking!

Here's the center fold!!! hahahaha!!!! I was EXHAUSTED!

We rested a bit and had a late lunch in the gazebo and then went right back to work!

By the time I got through late this afternoon, I could hardly stand up straight!

I came in and took a MUCH needed hot shower and put on some clean clothes......

and went to BED!!!! I asked Louis Dean if it was too early to just stay there!

After a short nap and a few more glasses of water, I got up and went outside to see the fruits of our labors. My sweet Louis Dean had put all the equipment up while I rested.

I am loving whatever these purple flowers are!

They are new - I just planted them last summer.

The mums I had in this planter died a painful scorching death!

The red cedar mulch just makes it all look SO much better!!!

Weeds have been pulled, bushes trimmed, Asian jasmine has been weed whacked back!

The plastic stones in front of the real stone wall will be replaced with the stones from the fence Louis Dean will be taking down soon......all in good time.

The Carolina Jessamine is blooming nicely!

The Texas Sage is looking good.

I cut back the honeysuckle and pulled up mint - again! I am ALWAYS pulling up mint!

I want to buy more of THIS!

I especially like it when plants come back each year!

This ground cover has gone WILD the last few years!!! It has spread all over the place!

I need to get those giant Easter Eggs out of there and put them where they can be seen!

This is a good time of year here in Texas! It was 75 degrees here today. The high for Thursday is supposed to be 86! We are giving a dinner party/jam session that night so we will need to turn on the A/C with a house full of people!

I keep sticking those blue wine bottles in the dirt but they aren't growing!

After I get a few more, I will pull them all up and use them to line a flower bed.

That big citronella plant will be coming in handy. The mosquito season arrived this weekend - earlier than usual here at our place. We are going to have to keep all the bird feeders full!

The pansies won't last much longer as the weather heats up.

I have always had a LOT of mint and I use it generously when I brew my teas.

This year I planted some Lemon Balm.

Trust me - it makes a great pitcher of tea!

Now for the ugly faucets!

Louis Dean wrapped them up VERY good this winter!

SO good - he doesn't want to UNWRAP them!

All that silver foil stuff just looks awful to me!

Soooooo........

I don't think this looks much better!!!

Still! It's not SILVER!

I used some vintage webbing on the front faucet.

Hmmm......still not good but I think I can improve on it.

A trip to Hobby Lobby on Friday is on my to do list!

I guess they don't make GREEN burlap - do THEY???

I have so MANY faucets to cover!!! Louis Dean has put them all over the place!

No matter where you are in the front or back yard - there is a faucet close by!

That's it for our Monday!

The candle is lit and it's time for a little drive way sit.

"Remember as far as everyone knows we are a nice normal family."

We celebrated 'Family' together this afternoon with dinner and lots of laughing and talking!

Let me introduce you to some of my family.

My sister, Nita, (second from the left) is next to her husband, Mike (in the orange shirt).

My brother, Lonnie (in the middle) is next to his lovely wife, Michele (in the blue top). Their darling granddaughter is in front of her.

My sister, Deanie, is behind me and next to her husband, Charlie.

We have decided to purposely schedule time to be together - just because!

This is a plaque that sits in Deanie's kitchen!

I have always wanted to be 'normal!'

Lonnie and Louis Dean visiting in the gazebo.

The weather was PERFECT today!

Attic fan and doors open!

Birds were singing, the sun was shining and all was right in our world!

Little Katy had a good time hosting a tea party - using REAL tea!!!

She also played in the sand box! When they took the cover off she exclaimed, "LOOK! The BEACH!"

We made a lot of fun memories today!

Louis Dean sang us a song......

and then he and I sang TWO duets!!

The crowd went wild!

Nita and Lonnie did a little singing, too!!

OOPS!!!

My photos are blurry, I KNOW!

We had BBQ Brisket, potato salad, baked beans, broccoli slaw, peach cobbler and ice cream!

Taking pictures when people are eating is probably not good manners.

I did it anyway!

Miss Katy Love had her own table for one!

She is just precious!

Maddie came out for her!

Katy said, "She licked my arm so good - I could feel her taste buds!!!"

We sat at the table long after the food was gone.

I love that!

To me it is the sign of a good party!

Time for lipstick and a photo shoot!

I love these people!!

You know when I said last night that sometimes photos show a 'perfect' picture when really it's not?

Well, these photos ARE 'perfect!'

My Brother, My Mother, My Sister.....and a Journey...

I am loving the Timehop on Facebook!
This is my brother, Lonnie, and I from SIX years ago!!

I love my one and only brother and am so grateful for our relationship!

I am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow as well as two of my dear sisters!

We are in the midst of a major project - a timeline of our childhood.

I can NOT wait to hear HIS memories!!

I was late in picking Mother up at the hair salon!!!

Traffic was snarled before I even left Irving! She told me she waited 'long time' but then preened and smiled and that let me know she enjoyed sitting there watching all the people!

After being sick last week, she was grateful to look pretty again!

I know how much she loves IHOP so that's where we went this morning.

Apparently she wanted a different IHOP location but made do with the one I took her to!

She was excited at the maple syrup - the one ON THE TABLE - while I thought she wanted the warmed syrup they brought. So I had that!! We did order extra butter! Mother thought it would never arrive and refused to take a bite until it DID!

Mother was HAPPY!

I needed to stop at Trader Joe's and since she has been ill, she didn't feel like going in.

She did well sitting in the car! I think she made herself pretty comfortable!

Deanie has been telling her to keep her feet propped up to help with the swelling!

And so she DID!!

This is the earliest photo we have of Mother.

Here she is with her beloved brother, Truman.

She and her sister called him 'Brother!'

They called each other 'Sister.'

A family picture of Mother (the youngest) and her parents and siblings.

Mother at age 16.

Mother and her siblings and their husbands.

Not sure who the child in the center is.

Mother and her sister, Irene.

I am named for her.

Linda Irene!

I love looking at the old photos and wonder what life was like for my mother back then.

I know she did not have a happy life.

It is amazing how photographs can make it seem like it was a perfect moment in time.

When in reality - life was extremely difficult.

This photo is of Mother (in black and pregnant with my sister, Deanie) and Lloyd (her husband) along with her sister, Irene and her husband,  PR ( on the left ) and Aunt Alice and Uncle Truman (in the center).

I brought Mother home and she was ready for a nap.

The perk of Mother living with Deanie and Charlie is that I get to visit with my sister for a little while every week.

We had a middle of the day slumber party!!!

My siblings and I are on a journey.

A journey through our childhood.

Because of Mother's difficult life - we in turn had a difficult and traumatic childhood.

We are on a journey.

We are coming to terms with our past.

We are so grateful to God for his protective hand - not only on our lives, but our hearts and minds as well.

We are all now in a very blessed part of life!

God saved the BEST for LAST for us!

Still.....this journey is hard......some days are harder than others.

This was one of the hard ones for me - for whatever reasons.......