Blasphemy, I know!

I've always stated that I like living where I do because I get to experience all four seasons. Granted some are more intense than others but regardless of their severity, we get all four. I can give you reasons to love and enjoy each one.

Fall - my personal favorite, cooler weather, magnificent fall colors in the foliage, football, celebrating Thanksgiving   (love me some turkey and dressing), ,
Winter - Christmas, decorating for the holidays, sitting around the fireplace, SNOW!
Spring - warmer weather, flowers and trees in bloom, lush green grass sprouting, baseball, 
Summer - hmmm, well let me get back with you on this one, can't seem to come up with any reasons to love summer and 100* weather

However, as much as I love the seasons, I also have a few reasons to hate intensely dislike them ... and for the last couple of weeks it has been especially evident what I dislike about Spring.

Weather wise it's been a roller coaster of a ride. I like this kind of roller coaster   but not the weather kind. What's a weather roller coaster? Just when you get use to the bright sunshine, brilliant blue skies, and soft gentle winds you get punched in the gut with severe weather. Raging thunderstorms, intense lightening, strong winds, falling trees, and hail have caused several sleepless nights here.

Not to mention the up-and-down temperatures. Windows open, windows closed. Heaters off, fans on, fans off, heaters on. Capris and short sleeves on Monday, jeans and sweat shirts on Tuesday.

My head is spinning, make it stop.

Speaking of heads - mine is all clogged up. It's caused by the dozens of pollen that cover Georgia each year. I know pollen is necessary and all but it's just. no. fun to have around. Some can't be seen but tearing eyes, scratchy throats, coughing, and sneezing are evidence these pollens are in the air. And then there is the film of yellow dust that covers everything, this is also the pollen you  feel in your nose and throat .... pine pollen that makes outdoor furniture, cars, and pets change color.  Here's what a black cat looks like after rolling around in the pollen.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE pine pollen?

Speaking of pine trees, there are these things everywhere. After a little research I've got a name to put on them. They are catkins aka male pine cones. They release pine pollen. They also fall off the trees and create a mess.
After our last storm they literally covered the driveway and back porch, in addition to the grass. With Dale, Eddie, and the dogs going in and out multiple times a day, they begin to creep into my house.   Starting at the back door and continuing all the way to the bathroom floor in the back of the house  I find a trail of them. It doesn't matter how often I sweep and vacuum, they're always there.

Speaking of green folliage, what the heck is this?   Apparently overnight my home has been overtaken by an alien. This stuff has literally sprung up overnight and appears to be on it's way to covering my entire house.  I'm a little afraid to go to sleep for fear that I won't be able to get out tomorrow!

Then, there's these guys   you're friendly but un-neighborly carpenter bee. I've had a hard time convincing Eddie that these things are harmless to humans. They're only deadly to your home. They don't bite or sting but can eat your home almost as fast as termites. Every year they show up and every year we fight the battle. My husband likes to get out there and fill the holes they bore with caulk. Not the best solution since all they need to do is turn around and burrow their way out another hole. My youngest son likes to get out there and "play" badminton with them. Effective but not very humane.

Me... I just try to ignore them. That is until they decide to come INTO the house. Monday there were two of those suckers in here. Once in, they weren't very happy and were frantically trying to find their way out again. Neither was very smart because all they kept doing was buzzing and throwing themselves at the window panes. Being the ever so resourceful WOMAN that I am, I got out my trusty butterfly net  and showed them the way. I probably should have squished 'em dead now that I think about it. I just have a hard time killing God's creatures.

Speaking of butterfly nets - if you're wondering why I have one, it's not to catch butterflies. Nope I catch birds with it! You see, we have a problem with our back porch screen door.  It never gets closed.

I didn't say it wouldn't close, it just d.o.e.s.  n.o.t get closed. You see, it's much easier to let the dogs out into the back yard by just opening the door and shooing them on their way. If I had to go and open the screen door too .... well, we wouldn't want to exert ourselves and over do it now would we?

Anywho, as a consequence of leaving the screen door open all the time we frequently find birds on the back porch. They're real good about flying in but not so much flying back out. Consequently, I have to get out there with my trusty butterfly net and coax them out.

Let me tell you - this is not an easy task. They're scared and not very trusting so they tend to fly back and forth from one side of the porch to the other. I have to chase them while dodging all the junk on our Sandford and Son porch. Not having the stealth like skills of this creatureI seldom catch them in mid flight. But once they light on the railing I have a good chance of netting them. (Don't worry, while I'm outside chasing birds on the porch this girl is safely inside flinging herself at the windows trying to get out. I know she wants to "help" but I'm not having any of that)

Sometimes the birds aren't very cooperative and get overly rambunctious. They fly kamikaze style into the screens, knocking themselves senseless (off course they did get trapped on a screen porch to begin with so I'm not so sure how much sense they actually have anyway). As they stagger around on the floor it's rather easy to scoop them up and take them out to the yard. I usually watch over them until they come out of their coma and fly off. And Spunky? She's still inside flinging herself against the window.

What is this leading up to you ask? Well, a couple of weeks ago I came home to find a bird on the back porch. I went out and did the above mentioned dance and got her out. How do I know it was a "her" you ask? Well, after shooing her away I turned and noticed this.  It's a bird house that never quite made it out into the yard and has been sitting on the Sandford and Son back porch for months. Look closely,  what's that? While we were away at church that morning this mama bird was gettin' down making herself a nest.

Oh, dilemma, what should I do? If I leave it there this girl is going to be stalking it big time. Add to it the dogs, the husband, and a little boy coming and going 500 times a day and I doubt very seriously mama bird is going to want to take up permanent  residence here.

I felt really bad because she had obviously gone to a lot of work but I couldn't just leave it and risk having bird feathers and body parts everywhere. So, I carefully took the house, with nest intact, and placed it outside of the porch.

Long story short (aren't you glad I'm finally getting there?) mama bird not only never came back but apparently was forced to leave her unborn babies behind. I realized today there were already eggs in the nest , eggs that never hatched and never produced itty, bitty, baby birds. Birds that will never get the chance to chirp and fill the spring air with song.

Sigh.

YIKES!  What a depressing note to end a blog on. Oh well, there you have it sometimes even the best of things has a rotten smell to it.

And Spring - well, yes, I love and I hate it. So there, deal with it!

Happy Birthday Mary Alice Binkley Frazier AKA Gigi!

Well, we survived the party and it was a complete success. Gigi (aka Mary Alice, Mother, Grandma) was completely surprised and loved every minute of the attention.

Three of her four children were there  as well as four of her ten grandchildren and four of her seven great-grandkids.

She got roses, compliments of her new son-in-law - aren't they beautiful?  Ever the smarty pants I wanted to know why there weren't eighty-nine roses there. Everyone just ignored me.

One of her grandsons-in-law, Hooper, aka Michael, Wesley (what is it with this family and multiple names for one person?)  made an awesome cake for the occasion, complete with candles. Lot's of candles.


taken with another camera it looks like the place is ready to go up in flames!  fortunately no one was harmed in the filming of this incident.

It was so nice to get together and just shoot the breeze with family that we don't get to see often enough.  and it was especially fun watching the younger generation enjoy each other's company.  Even at this young age they are obsessed with technology. My kids and their cousins used to "fight" over cars and Bat Man figures, this generation .... it's iPhones and iPods.

Dale and I laughed on the way home. We are always complaining whenever we go out to eat and there is invariably a loud obnoxious group of diners there. Well, tonight WE were that group. I'm sure all the people dining at Red Lobster in Roswell were not only cursing us for being rowdy but also themselves for picking that night and that particular restaurant for a quiet night of dining.

I guess we should have sent out warning announcements ahead of time. Oh well, maybe next time I will be more accepting of the hooligans around us, if not and I complain about here, please feel free to remind of Gigi's birthday dinner.

Meanwhile, I will close by adding that I survived the great photo debacle and came out somewhat unscathed. It turns out that my niece took pity and made sure to get one decent photo of me.  And while it's not the glamour shot suggested by my friend, Pam, it is acceptable. If you focus on my lips though, I bet you can tell what I'm saying

     "hurry, up and take the dang photo please!"

If only I could learn to keep my mouth shut.

Yeah, that's never gonna happen.

Party Pooper

So, every party has a pooper, right? You know what I mean. There's always that one person who is a kill-joy, that doesn't want to go along with the group, or who sits and sulks because something didn't go their way. Some party poopers don't have a clue that they are pooping on everyone else's parade. However a true party pooper knows what they are and doesn't care! I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit, this weekend I might be a party pooper.

Here's the deal. My mother in law will be 89 on April 12th. This past year has been a very tumultuousness one for her, full of illness and lots of changes. Right now she appears to be over the hump and back up on the good side of the mountain. Her grand-daughter-in-law decided we should all join in to help her celebrate another year of life by honoring her with a surprise birthday dinner. Part of the surprise is the party is three days before her actual birthday. She won't have a clue when her caretakers take her to dinner tomorrow night that she will be walking into a room filled with loved ones. Especially sweet will be the presence of her middle son, his wife and daughter, and his two granddaughters, who are driving up from Florida to attend the party.

We will be meeting at Red Lobster, one of Alice's favorite restaurants. We've had many family dinners at this restaurant so it only seems right that it is where we will end up there for her birthday celebration. Here's a scrapbook page from 1999 when we ate there. Please don't judge the page, it's before I really figured out the whole scrapbooking thing. The journaling on the page reads:  An annual event in May as the Fraziers and Stettlers get together to celebrate Ken & Alice's anniversary and Ken's birthday. Remember the year Grandpa found a crab leg under his chair? dated May 22, 1999

(Side note: funny thing about my MIL, she goes by many different names: Mother, Mary Alice, Alice, Mawmaw, Grandma, Gigi .... it seems like everyone has their own special way of addressing the matriarch of the family. The current favorite is Gigi - this name was given to her when her great-grandson Jonathan was born. It was his way of shortening Great Grandma. Corky and Frank, who are her caregivers have taken up calling her Gigi and many other family members are now deferring to that new endearment.)

Peaches, the grand-daughter-in-law who is spearheading this event, has made a request to all the family. She wants everyone to bring a photo of themselves to present to Gigi (see, even I am calling her that now). I believe the plan is for Peaches to put all the photos together into a scrapbook for her so that she will have something to flip through and enjoy.

Here's the part where I am the party pooper. I HATE having my picture taken. It starts with posing which makes me feel very uncomfortable. When I feel uncomfortable I tend to start babbling ... photos of people talking seldom look good. If I'm not babbling I'm making some goofy face. Again, not for the most photogenic results. And then there's the fact that I am way over weight, which makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that me, in all my fatness, will be forever captured for all to see. People tell me to smile. I can't do it. All I can think of is my crooked lips. And don't even think about showing teeth - we just won't go there.

Prime example: everyone here looks happy except me,   well Steve looks a little serious ... but me? I look I have a bad case of gas. Face it, I'm just not photogenic.

All this adds up to is there are very few photos of me available. And the ones that exist make me look like an idiot. Consequently, I don't have a photo of me to share with Gigi, at least not one that I want to see in her scrapbook.

My husband suggested using this one that was taken two years ago at my cousin's wedding.  It's a great photo of him. And Ian. And Andrew. But then there is me .... ugh! I promise you that is NOT an attempt at a smile, it's me talking through my teeth "get this over with, take the picture dang it!"  Add to it that it was 101* outside and I had been melting for about two hours. Note the flat, stringy hair. And that dress - what was I thinking? Can we say "fat arms"?

There's this photo, also taken in 2009. Look at those chubby cheeks, and again with the chubby arms. Why do I keep wearing tops which show my flabby arms? Oh yeah, it's because I cannot stand being HOT! If I weren't so fat I'd just around naked all the time in order to cool off. Of course I wouldn't be hot all the time if I weren't so fat. Hmmmm, what's the answer here?

I found the last two professional family portraits we had taken but I'm thinking they're a little too old to use. This one was taken in 1994. Look how wittle the boys are. Ian has quite the comb over and Andrew looks like a mischievous little elf. I want to pinch those cheeks.  Look at all the dark head and facial hair Dale has. Look at those humongous glasses I have on, nice hair though. Wish it were that thick and dark now! I just look so serious, prim and proper, gah!

This photo was taken in 1998  I was beginning to get pudgy here and look at all that hair. I was however, actually smiling in the photo and looking half way normal. There's my sweetie without facial hair, looking HOT (and I don't mean in a bad way!)  The pics of the boys aren't that great. I remember I was so mad at them when this was taken. It was for our church directory and they had spent the hour before outside playing with friends. Andrew looks like a little sweat ball and Ian desperately needs his hair combed. Also, this was the time period where Ian was sporting a huge gap between his two front teeth. Unlike David Letterman, his teeth finally grew together. Of course nowadays it's seems to be quite the thing to have a gap there. I've even read of people purposely creating one. How stupid is that?

I just don't think either of these two family photos is what Peaches is asking for though so I decided to create my own, one where we look like one big, happy family. What do you think, will it pass snuff for Gigi's scrapbook? 'cause if not, I don't have a photograph to bring and I will be the party pooper.

That Darn Cat

I kept hearing this rustling noise and couldn't figure out what it was. Since the back door has been open a lot lately I decided I better get up and investigate just to make sure there isn't an unwanted critter somewhere in my house.

Well, it's a critter alright - just a domestic one. She thinks she's a goddess. I think she's a pain in ....never mind, no need for specifics. She is a CAT though, and everyone knows how I love the kitties.

Evidently Spunky didn't think I was paying bills fast enough and thought she should help out. This mess is what I found. .

Or perhaps, knowing her, she could care less about the bills and was, in reality, just trying to find a place to hunker down.  Really missy, you're a small kitty but you are NOT that small. You will NOT fit into that space, no matter how hard you try.

And for all of you who notice the details .... yes, we do play the lottery.  Not that it's done us any good. Some times we only have one or two numbers. Most times not any. But that doesn't stop us from trying.

I figure as long as we are paying our bills and eating it can't hurt to play every once in awhile. And let's not forget "the most fun a dollar can buy" is helping to put thousands of kids through college. Of course mine don't get the Hope $$ because they chose to go to school out of state.

There's also the added fun of playing the game "what will be do with all that money when we win the big one?" So far that list is long and constantly changing.

For now we haven't won but you never know tomorrow might be the day. We can always hope :)

Meanwhile the Goddess has settled down. She's found a nice comfy spot for her afternoon nap.  I am a little nervous though, she sure is giving me the stink eye!

Day 2 of the big yard cleanup

When I last blogged I told you my grand plans for more yard improvements. As noted on this photo the plans were as follows:

1. get rid of the ugly bushes
2. create a flower bed under the windows
3. purchase some hanging baskets to hang on the crook
4. get rid of the rotting address sign

And while I didn't note it Saturday, I also planned to cut down all the annoying tiny pine trees that have sprung up in the side and front yard. Before I got started I took some before shots.

 

 It may not seem like many but believe me, looks can be deceiving. I stopped counting after #50 dropped! 

Here's what it looks like now.    Now, if I were a professional yard person I would have gotten rid of the downed trees but I just left them where they dropped. Hey, I'm not getting paid for this job! Along with that cleanup what's really needed is for someone to go out there and pick up all the stupid pine cones laying on the ground. And yes, pine comes are stupid. Have you ever seen a pine cone go to college, get a job, or be recognized for a Nobel Peace prize?

Dale and I have always said that we wish someone would come up with a mechanical pine cone picker-upper. Even better, maybe we should invent it ourselves and retire on all the money that would come rolling in. 

Anywho, doesn't that look a lot better?  I can't wait for the mimosa tree to start getting it's leaves because it's looking pretty naked right now. Theres also a second one, there on the right, that I might go ahead and cute down. At the moment it's looking pretty forlorn.

I must go on the record here and admit to the world that my husband despises those mimosa trees. If he had his way they'd all be gone. I love their southern charm and refuse to part with them. It's just one of those things that we've agreed to compromise on ... I get my mimosa trees and he gets fed a home cooked meal at least twice a week. Sounds like a fair deal to me!  

In a perfect world, I will create a flower bed surrounding the mimosa. I should probably also come up with something to camouflage those tree stumps. Jackson EMC left them a few years ago when they chopped down a couple of  line-offending pine trees. It was a free cut so I guess I can't complain about the leftover stumps however unsightly they are. 

There's one major stumbling block to living in this perfect world. Well, actually there are two, no, THREE stumbling blocks. First, flower beds aren't cheap. All the flowers, potting soil, mulch, etc. cost money. And unfortunately, with all the trees on our property not one of them is a money tree. 

Second, thinking about all the physical activity it will require to create this flower bed is causing me to cringe. Right now every muscle in my body is screaming. My joints are aching, and my nose is sunburned. I'm just not sure I'm up to the job at the moment. Which leads me to my third point. 

If a flower bed is created it must be maintained. Hello! It's me, Sherri, we're talking about here. Mrs. Brown Thumb. Weeding, watering, inspirational talks ... these are not my strong suits. I try to do the right thing and can usually keep it up for awhile. But, as the weather gets warmer my sense of obligation begins to wane and before you know it, the greenery turns brown, colors fade, petals droop, weeds abound and suddenly I'm whining "who's idea was this anyway?"

At the moment, the verdict is still out on a flower beds. Time will tell.

Meanwhile let's travel on up the driveway and see how the girls are progressing.

Tacy has three blooms. Betsy however,  is still refusing to put out. I guess that makes her a good girl, huh?

Lila  is coming of age. And Bella .... well Bella is quite the floozy.

  She's definitely strutting her stuff!

Around the corner, what do we have here?  Yay! Those ugly little bushes are GONE! As is the cute little sign that was looking much too worse for the wear. 

It's hard to see but it has Bible scripture on it.  Joshua 24:15 "But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD"  I hate to take it down but it's really looking rough. Maybe I can think of something else to replace it.

 Woohoo! Look at that shrub and bush free zone. Wouldn't it look great with a flower bed? Oops. There I go again with the flower bed.

I know what would really make it look great - a front porch! I've always wanted one. With rocking chairs or a porch swing. What do you think? Do you think I could convince the husband how grand that would look? I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to build. Surely if he can build this  he can build a little front porch. Ya think?? Meanwhile I think I'll go out and buy a few hanging baskets. Right after I finish soaking my feet and sitting on the heating pad. Oh, my aching back!

A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to clear out part of the jungle in our front yard. It's not that I don't like the jungle because I do like the privacy that it gives us and it also helps keep the cooling bill down in the summer. However despite all  the greenery, it just looks totally unkempt as you can tell from these photos taken last fall..

We have zero curb appeal and in fact, from Spring until Fall you can barely even see our house from the street.

There's not a whole lot we can do about the very front. There are more than a dozen huge pine trees there that would cost a fortune to have removed. Covering the ground in the midst of the pine isle are bushes, sticker-vines, poison oak, and who knows what else. Some Round Up might help, but I'm thinking gallons would be needed and who's got that kind of money? No me. And frankly, if I did I would rather spend it on a week at the beach than on killing weeds!

Here's a view looking from the house towards the street.

Another month or so of spring growth and you won't even be able to see the street.

As I said, I've been wanting to do a major cleanup for a couple of weeks but life, mother nature, and other commitments kept getting in the way.  This morning I finally said enough is enough, today is the day, no excuses. I even managed to browbeat convince my husband to jump on the band wagon and help out.

It's amazing what two people, a saw, some hedge clippers, and whole lot of determination can accomplish. Look! There's a house there and it even has windows!


There's still a whole lot of pine straw and frankly I'm not so sure what to do with it. We've tried before to grow grass here but have never had much luck. Not to mention, as long as we have those ding-dang pine trees there's always going to be pine straw falling



It always amazes me that people go out and pay good money for this stuff and I have a plethora of it falling down around me. It's pretty deep too. If we were to rake it all up into a pile I know it would be higher than the house. And no, honey, no matter what you say, we are NOT going to burn it. Remember last time? The Last Big Burn



Right now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the view.



and I might consider all the possibilities of additional things to do.



It's spring break so I have free time to do some work. Of course there's also the scrapbooking that's calling my name. And, the walls on Ian's room are screaming to be painted. There's also the floor in the dining room that desperately needs to be fixed and since we can't afford to tile right now, the plan is remove the paint that's there (what were we thinking?) and hope for the best.

The big question is ..... what task should I tackle first? Which job(s) will be the easiest, take the less time, and cause fewer aching muscles and a sore back.... cause you know what, a couple of hours of yard work today and I am so sore I can barely move! We won't talk about old age and being out of shape. We're just going to pop a few tylenol, sit with a heating pad, and chalk it up to a job well done.

I got ROSES last night! 

My husband ... he's a keeper.