Category Archives: photos

my backyard

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I haven’t been reading much lately, between my mom’s health issues and my garden chores, I’ve been busy (and a little tired and stressed out too). Last night I grabbed my camera and ventured out into my backyard. It felt good to do something creative, to slow down, breathe, and appreciate nature’s gifts.

My gardener friends say I’m supposed to cut the chives back now, but how can I, they’re so pretty when they bloom!

One of my Clematis blooms, I’ve planted them everywhere, some are happy, others would like more attention than I’ve been willing and able to provide (kinda like kids).

Our uptown ducks, we usually try to run them off, but this year we gave up. They eat the bugs off the surface of the water so we figure they are doing their part to clean the pool (if only they didn’t quickly digest those bugs and poop them right back out we’d be golden).

one soldier, one story

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Cpl. William A. Long, an Army honor guard member who helped bury about 600 soldiers before deciding that he wanted to aid the military effort in Iraq, died in a grenade attack while there and was buried at Arlington National Cemetary on June 27, 2005. Brig. Gen. John MacDonald presents the American flag that was on Cpl. Long’s coffin to his mother, Susan Cordner. (Photograph by Jay Talbott/Scripps Howard News Service)

“Our heroes are those who act above and beyond the call of duty and in so doing give definition to patriotism and elevate all of us…. America is the land of the free because we are the home of the brave.” David Mahoney

flower power

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My mom is home from the hospital and doing better so I’ve been busy buying flowers and catching up on my gardening this week. My favorite all around gardening guide is published by Reader’s Digest. It covers everything and anything you might need to know from planting to pruning to pests. It’s been a tough ten days, I think I’ll go get some dirt under my fingernails…there’s no doubt about it, flowers are food for the soul. Thanks for all your kind words and prayers, what would we do without the support of our friends and our family:)

final birdy update:(

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Well, Larry and Curly are gone, poor little Moe is still in the nest as I write this but seems to be thinking about leaving. Mom and dad fluttered around and hollared at them all morning to get the kids to go. I’ll miss them, but now I can toss out the wreath and hang my summer wreaths. How fun it was to be able to watch them up close and personal this spring. Look back at my May 8th post and compare it to today’s final pics to see how quickly they went from fragile, bald little guys to fine feathered teens….just checked, we now have an empty nest!

birdy update

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Here’s an update on Larry, Moe, and Curly. Their feathers came in practically overnight. I caught a shot of mom (or dad) in the pine tree yelling at me when I peeked in the nest the last time. Haven’t had a chance to look them up yet, I’m thinking some kind of finch?

my mom

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That’s my mom Carol and her brand new great-granddaughter, Aryielle. My niece Christy gave birth to her this past Thursday, on Friday my mother celebrated her 73rd birthday, and on Saturday we took her to the ER because she has been having terrible shortness of breath. She has congestive heart failure and is now in the CCU while they try to figure out how they need to treat it. Not one of our better Mother’s Days, although the new baby has brought us all joy, especially my mom. My mother had no history of heart disease but the shortness of breath has been present for some time and she kept thinking maybe she was just getting old, or it was a lung problem like COPD, a condition a doctor once told her she may have. The point I’m trying to make is this, if you or someone you know has been experiencing shortness of breath and made lifestyle adjustments because of it, shortening an evening walk, letting your once perfect garden go to weeds, buying fewer groceries because it’s too hard to carry them in, sleeping on more pillows at night so you can breathe better….go to the doctor and demand to be screened for congestive heart failure. My mom went to the doctor last week but because she didn’t have all the warning signs her family doctor did not catch it. We finally took her to the ER hoping they would figure out what was going on, and thankfully they did. We hear a lot about heart attacks in the media but the onset of congestive heart failure is often insidious, yet just as dangerous to the health of your heart. My mom is having a heart cath today so they can see what might be causing her symptoms. I wouldn’t mind at all if you could send some prayers and positive energy our way.

larry, moe, & curly

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One afternoon recently as bookbabie went to retrieve a package from the front porch (a book order no doubt) she saw a bird fly out of a wreath on the door. Lo and behold, the little birdy had built a sturdy nest in the wreath and lain four tiny blue eggs in it all without detection, Mr. & Mrs. bookbabie are obviously either blind or totally unobservant (maybe both). Those are my winter wreaths as you can see, the nest is tucked securely behind a sparkling white snowflake. All four eggs hatched but one baby died and was tossed out by mom (and left dangling on a bit of wreath until Mr. bookbabie came home and gently removed it). I tried to get a photo of them when they were awake but they sleep an awful lot and I don’t want to bug them too much and stress out mom. I’ll post updated photos and reports once a week until they fly the coop!