While everyone is complaining as gas prices rise to $4.00 a gallon, my husband put a different perspective on the situation.
Our Corolla gets about 35 miles to the gallon. He asked me if I would walk 35 miles for $4.00. I said, “No, of course not.” He said, “then its a pretty good deal to only pay $4.00 to travel 35 miles.”
My husband is the kind of guy who sees the cup half full.
No matter how hectic life gets to be sometime, you should wake up early and enjoy a few minutes alone just admiring the Lord’s handiwork. With my coffee in hand, I am off to the back porch to enjoy watching my chickens scratching for food and my dogs running from tree to tree following the squirrel as he jumps from branch to branch. And the wild birds are entertaining, too. Yesterday I watched a Woodpecker and some Blue Jays sweep down to steal a bite out of the dog’s dishes.
The lawn is freshly mowed and everything looks so green and manicured. There is still work to be done in the yard but I will think about that later. Enjoy…relax, now.
My daughter helped mow the lawn last night and it really tickled me to see her on the riding lawnmower going around in circles and zig zagging to make sure she didn’t miss a blade of grass. Not exactly what she did on Friday night in Raleigh. Then we raked the grass in the thick part of the yard and feed it to the two horses and the goat next door.
I guess I am particularly thinking about “another day in my paradise” because I am missing my Dad so much and he is in the REAL paradise now. I think I will just try to enjoy the time I have on this earth with all the Lord’s many beautiful wonders and make myself more available to the people who mean so much to me. My son lives in Raleigh and my daughter lives in Atlanta and I don’t always make the time to call like I should. Emailing is so much easier. I do speak with my Mom almost every day. Everyone just seems so busy…don’t they? I was hoping at 57 I wouldn’t be so busy myself. lol
Well, I am going to grab another cup of coffee and get back out on the porch before it starts getting too hot. Have a great day folks. Take the time to enjoy a few moments outside in the refreshing morning air. You won’t regret it. Unless you live next to a couple horses, like I do and sometimes the air…not so fresh.
The trees are getting their leaves again and blossoms are back. Wow. What a difference a matter of weeks makes to nature.
Lake Tahoe was beautiful. Snow-covered mountains and a lake that defies description. The color is amazing. We went up the side of the mountain in a Heavenly Gondala and the view was even better. When you get to the top, there is a “playground” and I couldn’t help but think about my granddaughter enjoying the area. Small kids were learning to ski and there were inner-tubes that teenagers and adults were sliding down the a circular slide. then there were lifts to the top of the mountain for skiers, snow bikes, snow mobiles with a sled behind it for tourists and a place to eat.
A limo met us at the airport and drove us from Reno to Lake Tahoe which was about an hour. I don’t remember being in a limo before so it was definitely a treat.
Only downside to the vacation, Calvin and I both got a head cold and it lasted for a week. It snowed while we were there and we were outside in sweaters and jeans. I would love to go back there in the summer and enjoy the lake.
Back to the Spring stuff….Calvin has already mowed the lawn. No rain here in Florida so I guess we won’t have to mow as often. I am going to need to water the plants outside until we get some rain. That takes about an hour a day…who has the time?????
Remember the crepe myrtles I dug up out of the ditch? Well, they are growing again this year. Thank goodness. Free plants are the best.
My goal for my yard this year is to get some bushes/larger plants planted. My trees are all growing well. Getting them planted earlier was a great plan because they take so long to grow. The grass growing in my sandy yard is a big problem. Especially with two acres.
I hope everyone is enjoying the Spring…new life..new growth…new hope.
I just wanted to say that I am still on my diet with my daughter and we have both lost almost l5 pounds. It feels great.
Hello family and friends…
Sorry I have neglected my blog. Just been so busy with my new job…assistant manager, International House of Pancakes. Training was six days a week and now I am managing shifts so I am down to five days a week. I have to remember how to manage my time in order to have meals cooked ahead of time for my husband as well as keep the house clean, grocery shopping done and laundry caught up.
I did take time to read my newest copy of Mother Earth News and saw a lot of stuff about chickens/eggs/coops. I have been wanting to build a new chicken house for some time now and I think I can either use some of the info from Mother Earth News or maybe even modify one of the ideas.
My garden area is looking really good with all the horse manure my neighbor has provided. I have raked it and my chickens have scratched it down to minute pieces of matter. I need to get something in the ground very soon. I was going to plant seeds since they are cheaper but I am thinking young plants may be a better idea this year.
Calvin and I are going to Lake Tahoe in April to celebrate our (May) anniversary. Free airline tickets and hotel for four days. I just started a new job so I was thinking I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the great offer but my boss said “time with family is important.” I can’t wait to spend time alone with my husband with nothing on our plate except enjoying each other’s company and sightseeing in a totally new environment. He has been working 30 hours every two weeks (for months) of overtime so he is needing a vacation very badly. Good news is his hard work has paid off because he is getting a promotion and he has gotten two bonuses.
I guess this is all for now.
Wow, so much going on. It is hard to find the time to post my thoughts or new ideas.
I started a full time job a couple weeks ago. At 57, it is difficult to get back into the routine of working full time plus still having time to take care of the house, laundry and grocery shopping. We are working on paying off bills and getting a larger nest egg for retirement. Plus, there is so much I would like to do to fix up my home. New flooring for my house would be so great. My brother-in-law offered to help me redo my kitchen but I need to buy all the supplies first.
I am feeling very sentimental this morning…thinking about my Dad’s passing on. I know he is in a better place but it is so hard to believe he is gone. I pray every day that my Mom continues to have the desire to live without him. Fifty-eight years of marriage is a very long time and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to get up every morning and he isn’t there beside her in bed. I try to call Mom every day (or two) and see how she is doing. Some days, she sounds like it is such an effort to even speak. She seems to be doing okay on the days when she has things to do to occupy her time. My sisters are really taking good care of her and I sure wish I could be there in NC to help.
My kids seem to be as busy as I am…Brian just got back from a cruise with his wife, Jen. I think it is great how they find time to do things together. Sometimes, you just have to make time for each other. So you don’t drift apart and go your separate ways.
My youngest daughter, Amber is finalizing paperwork for a new job, too. Go Amber. Nice pay increase and lots of benefits….like traveling. I did get to see Amber for about 20 minutes on Sunday. Long story but it has to do with not enough time.
Bonnie and I are spending a lot of Mother/Daughter time getting things done around my property and keeping each other motivated to lose the weight. We both lost another two pounds on our weigh-in last Friday.
I sure wish I could squeeze some time in to go visit my granddaughter, Madison. Every time I see her, she has grown so much. She is beautiful…not just from a grandmother’s point of view either.
Well, it is 6am now and I still need to get the laundry out of the dryer and make my bed before I start getting ready for work. Better run.
Take time to enjoy life folks. Being busy feels good in one sense….but it sure wears an ole body out.
The new year began and I promised myself I would eat better and exercise but it was now February and no changes in my life. Time for action…instead of talk.
My daughter and I went to a meeting on February 1 and joined Weight Watchers. Bonnie has a girlfriend whose whole family is doing the program and losing weight. There is a special right now where you don’t pay a registration fee and you can pay $39.95 a month and have access to the e-tools on the computer. We have been using the e-tools a lot.
Our second time at Weight Watchers, Bonnie lost 4.4 pounds and I lost 4.2. Wow. We are very impressed with ourselves and the program. It didn’t feel like a diet because we could still eat whatever we wanted. We are using the point system instead of the core system. It is really teaching us portion sizes and making us more aware of our water intake as well as fruits and vegetables. I didn’t realize how few fruits and vegetables I normally eat. No wonder I am overweight. Bread and meat and desserts seem to be my main diet.
The meetings are great, too. The book says people who attend the meetings are likely to lose 3 times more weight. The meetings are very motivational. People sharing cooking ideas and tips they have learned on their own.
A lifestyle change is what I needed and now I see a way to get there. If you want to lose weight and change your eating habits, join Weight Watchers. I know I have gone twice but I feel so good about it….and me. Can’t wait to get on the scale this week.
Well, I have done a lot of gripping about that stupid Mockingbird that keeps pooping on my car mirrors but now I have a good bird story.
We put a fake owl in our front yard near our cars thinking that might get rid of the Mockingbird. Now we have a real owl visiting us every night around midnight. It is a large owl…to us…and it sits in my Mimosa tree which is bare of leaves right now. We could see the owl so clearly because there was a light from our neighbors’ yard behind the tree and owl. We sat quietly on our back porch and watched him for awhile. We had flashlights and shined them on him to get a better look and he didn’t seem to mind.
I looked up owls in Florida and found my owl. It is called a Barred owl.
My daughter first saw the owl a couple weeks ago when she was letting the dogs outside. She said it was creepy looking and he just sat there as she shined the flashlight at him to get a good look.
Then a couple nights ago when she let the dogs out, the bird flew right over her head. She said she could hear the wings flapping and making a swooshing noise.
My husband wanted to see the owl but he goes to bed early every night because he gets up at 5am every morning. We told him the Early Bird would never get to see the Night Owl unless he stayed up past l0pm. So he stayed up last night and saw the owl.
I suppose the light shining into our yard from the neighbors’ and that big tree in our yard makes a great spot to catch food for the owl. I read they can eat l000 mice a year. We have a lot of moles in our yard so I am assuming that is what he is feasting on from our yard. Also, the owls like palmetto bugs which are in abundance in Florida. I really like that owl. I sure hate palmetto bugs.
We are all very excited about our new bird friend. I have a bird feeder out for the smaller birds and we have an abundance of Blue Jays, Blue Birds and Cardinals which are so attractive. We often see Woodpeckers. And during the winter we see a lot of Canadian Geese flying overhead making loud honking noises as they pass over our home.
The other day we saw about 70 large birds flying overhead. I believe they were the vulture-type birds that you see along side the road eating the dead animals. That was a sight to see, too. It reminded me of the movie “The Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock.
My daughter who has been here since the beginning of November has commented on how many birds there are here. It is winter and birds fly South. Or maybe it has something to do with her living in the city and us living in the country. Either way, she seems to be enjoying the birds as much as we do. She is always surprised by the chickens when I let them out of their pen and let them wander around on our land. She said she just doesn’t expect to see a chicken in the backyard when she opens the door.
Enough for now…bye.
Well, you know that bird I told you about that was sitting on my mirror of my car and pooping all over the side of the car and the mirror? Well, he/she is still there sitting on the mirrors and doing his/her thing. It is so aggravating. We put the owl out on a post and I keep chasing it with my bb pistol but he/she is fearless. The darn thing keeps coming back for more.
I covered the mirrors with plastic bags for awhile there but he/she just decided to sit on top or sometimes on the hood of the car. Anyone got any ideas?
Are you anticipating a refund this year? I bet you already have the money allocated for something special. This year we are wanting a set of mattresses and maybe one of those thin HDTVs. Last year, the refund went toward my daughter’s wedding.
Gathering all the tax stuff together is always such a pain. I tell myself every year that I will be better about putting everything all in one place so I can just grab the stuff and sit down and get it done. I use Turbo Tax myself. If you haven’t tried it, you should look into it. It is so simple. They ask you questions that you probably wouldn’t have thought to even put on your taxes.
Maybe a shoe box would work good. I could just throw all the receipts in there. The man that I work for just throws everything in a grocery paper bag and then carries it to an accountant. I imagine she loves that. I can picture her dumping the paper bag out on her desk. lol
I guess I should have made a New Year’s resolution about my taxes, too. Get more organized. Keep everything in one place.
I never did get my stuff to Goodwill or Salvation Army so that is one tax deduction I lost. I got it into bags and boxes but I just didn’t get it there. Actually, I kept thinking I would take the clothes to the shelters instead. Our bank does a “sweater drive” every year. I was thinking it should have been a “coat drive” until I realized I live in Florida.
So, I guess my only tip would be get organized early this year.