SADNESS ABOUNDS

                                                                 
                                                                On Sept 4, 2014, I lost my husband of 38 years. He fought the battle of cancer for 5 years. It was bittersweet, losing him, but wanting his suffering to stop...... A well attended memorial, he would have been humbled by it all. Don was the only person I have ever known to always speak the truth, he never wore a mask, and he was what you saw. A man of many talents, a decent man, but most important, he had common sense. I loved him and he loved me.
                                                                 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 11Timothy 3-7

Sleep over.....

Loving Monsoon season!

 

 

 I found this in my drafts. Never got around to publish it.  Sister had just lost her Hubby and was having a hard time after his death. She would stay with me when the grief became hard for her to bear.. 

 

 

 

Sis spent the night -first time in over 50 years- she found out how I really live. I am a closet hoarder-there I said it!! She told me it was time  to get organized!! Now how she expects a 69 yr. old dyslexic, scattered, ADHD person to change is beyond me! I always wanted to be able to know where anything I needed would be in a proper place. Believe me I have tried, but always get so stressed I have to take a break .Most breaks lasted years..  She should have worked on me years sooner!  We stared in the kitchen and this is what came out of my top cabinet's. 

 

 

 All this on the counter tops and island have been stored for years. At the least, 99 % of the stuff was never used. She ask why I keep all these things . Some of the things I just liked, were old, belonged to my Grandmother, some were gifts and others were just a darn good bargain. She told me that each piece that I wanted to keep, had to be displayed and if not then I had to  get rid of it! That is how I was able to give it up. I didn't find any that I really wanted to keep out except a sugar jar. I loved this little jar. I kept it on display for a few days. I got tired of looking at it, didn't match my décor, but couldn't make myself  donate it, so I  hid it on the top shelf in the very back where she wouldn't see it. Think of that, only one piece out of all the mess that I wanted to keep! This is going to be fun after all! It sure felt like a huge burden lifted from me-a burden I never knew existed!

 

 

The plan was her coming back to finish my whole house but her death got in the way.......

A little of this~~~~A little of that~~~

 

SUNFLOWERS                 

                                             

 No soil, not much water-maybe next year the snapdragons will come up in all
 the cracks on the patio!

Lolly Bee and Buddy Dee wanting to get away from all the pollen.

Love my desert museum palo

 

verde  tree even though the yard and patio are filled with yellow blooms.

 

 Grand son home safe from Afghanistan!!!!!!!!!  Prayers answered!!!!

 

 Not getting outside much. Hubby has finished all options for fighting his cancer. Hospice nurse comes to our home twice a week....... .

Healing....slowly

 

 

Sunset at Estrella 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this picture of my newest great granddaughter. My sister didn't get to meet her, but she did know what her name would be and the date she would be born. I met her the day my sister passed away. 

A TIME TO WEEP

With great sadness and a broken heart, I come to tell you that my sister Aiyana passed away September 27, 2013. You know by her very popular blog ( Water When Dry) ironically  her last post entry was  titled -Time to say Goodbye.  She died of complications from surgery. Sadly her beloved husband passed away four months earlier. My sister was two years older that me and that made her "THE BOSS."  I depended on her for the answers to all my life's questions.  She became a expert in everything that interested her and that was almost everything!  Our family is still in the denial stage- after all, she was "larger than life"- how could this happen????.   

 

 

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

 

Spring Update

On the road coming back home from Tucson I saw this beautiful sunset. I don't take very many sunset photos as I am usually in my east-facing back yard paradise. This was a pleasure to see most of the way home.

Lolly follows me everywhere and loves smelling all the flowers in the garden. She now weights 4lbs 6 oz. Her first birthday was December 28, 2011.

Shasta daisies bloomed this week and I'm waiting for all my wildflowers to bloom!

My climbing nasturtium is loving our beautiful weather, which has been running in the high 70s.

Another great grandchild on the way! My first grandson is going to be a father! I found this cute vase at Goodwill, and added the flowers for the mother-to-be.

I pruned the grape vine (it's either a Thompson or a red flame) and made the grape wreath from the trimmings. I'm hoping this second season produce some grapes.

Here's a few things in my garden that I love:

My turtle planter that I found in Indiana about 10 years ago. Turr Tull hasn't ventured out yet to join him again. The winter has been very mild. Yesterday it was 81 degrees, warm enough for Turr Tull to wake up and join the world again!

My adorable turtle watering can.

More smiles-Hubby will be finished with his second round of Chemo in March. Only three months on this time--now the plan is to stay in remission for another year! And, another smile as I stepped on the scales today--7 pounds gone!!! Yeah!

One thing I don't like is my laptop! I barely touch anything and photos disappear, color changes, then it takes off to other websites. I need to get a wireless keyboard to go along with the wireless mouse. I should have just bought a PC. Maybe I'd post more if it wasn't such a frustration!

The Good Life

Clouds rolled in, but it turned out to be a beautiful day on the lake!

My veggies are doing just fine without any help from me! No weeds to pull and the sprinklers are working. I just wait for the right time to harvest. It's hard to leave the carrots alone--this baby stage is when they taste the best!!

Cabbage hasn't produced a head yet, but

the cauliflower can be picked now. However, I am waiting until I have all the ingredients for my famous eleven-vegetable organic soup. The two heads on this plant have purple streaks running throughout. Could the plant have picked up some DNA from the beet seeds that never came up last year? LOL.

Only one broccoli plant this year.

Three heads on this plant.

Ivy geranium plant has new flowers each day!

The wildflower bed is full! I planted lots of seeds--first pack didn't come out so I added another-that didn't come up fast enough for me so then one more and now it looks like they all came up! Should bloom in February, March, April, and a few in May. Can't wait to see all these!

Nasturtiums are looking good as usual. I have pots of these all over!

I'm so glad I planted a few sweet peas in a couple of pots. Something happened to the soil or who knows what, because only about 8 plants came up out of 6 packets of seeds. I always have two long beds full, hope whatever the problem is this time will resolve next season.

I added a few stocks in the sweet pea bed. I love the sweet smell mixed with the alyssum and petunias. Pretty nice life here!

Little Lolly Bee. My little girl. Kids say she has it much better than they ever did! My life sure changed after Hubby brought her home for Valentines Day. She is with me everwhere I go. She now weighs 4 lbs, 6oz.

Brox is now 4 months in this pic. She is the best little girl! Always has a smile-loves her big brother Ryder. Yes, life is good here!

Picture Perfect!

A picture perfect day! This is on the top of my list of best day ever! Army grandson home on leave from Afghanistan, Grand daughter and family home for the celebration. We had a glorious 10 days together.

Sun-up till sundown we were busy celebrating...

Lots of food...

And tributes...

Ryder stopping to smell the flowers. He loves my garden and everything was watered over and over again!

Another Baby Added

My newest great grandchild, Broxton Tayte, born July 26th. We had just arrived home from Maui when we got the call to come to North Carolina to meet this sweet baby girl!

As per usual I had to buy a new swing for the fall/winter season. Swing # 5 blew over in haboobs that the top ripped and bent the frame. The cheap fabric on the cheap swings just won't last more than two seasons! I bought this one because it folds out into a bed.

My Summer Vacation

Another grand daughter, another Hawaii graduation trip! This is the last grandchild graduating from high school, so this is probably my last trip there.