Just Hanging Out

At the lake the other day I saw this guy - hanging out on this log.... minding his own business

And as he turned around and watched Katie row by  I realised - he had the  Best Seat in the House!

Heading North for the Winter!!?

They're off  - my nephews are off to be with their dad in Alaska!  A whole country away!  

 It's going to be very strange not to have them here... although we didn't get to see them very much with school and work and everything keeping us apart during the week....

Just knowing they were here, close - where we could get together for a special occasion - like a birthday party - or christmas, thanksgiving, halloween... you know - all those family times when you usually see each other.... made it ok!

Needless to say - the boys were really excited to see their dad...... and those of us left behind will be ok..... eventually!

Puppy sitting Casualty

So last weekend we puppysat my sister in laws adorable... energetic corgi puppies so she could attend the UT football game....

They absolutely LOVE to play with our dogs and the four fluffer-butts run in and out of the house ALL DAY LONG!!  Which is great for them.... and works to keep the activity in the house down while they race around the back yard then come into the house to cool off for a bit - then do it all over again.

The next day, however, when I was outside feeding the squirrels - I happened to look back over my shoulder and saw THIS backing itself down our tree.....right off of our deck...

 My guess is that with all the wild furball activity the night before... our nightly masked visitor (who comes to finish off whatever the squirrels don't eat during the day) probably got treed and never had the opportunity to leave... then fell asleep in the tree when it got too late.... He was trying to sneak away when I caught sight of him.....

When I started talking to him, however... he quickly reversed direction - going back up the tree and started circling towards the back of  the tree to try to get out of sight.... but - it was bright out and he was tired... so I think he thought he was invisible... when really - - - I could see him quite clearly!

Even the branches really didn't really help hide him since I knew where he was - but after taking a few pictures - I left him to exit gracefully and just enjoyed the moment I'd had with this furry visitor!

Squeeker, Squiggles, Squigbert, Benny and.... Barbara?

We've had an invasion of cuteness at our house.......

 Not IN our house exactly.... in our back yard.... we had a visitor a while back - and apparently - she had a family.... and... well - you know.....

Our family being the pet rat owning type... we've had a little trouble knowing what to do with them..... but when one  turned into two then three then five - we decided we'd better make some choices before they decided to move INTO our house this winter.  And, as much as I love our domesticated pets... the thought of a non-domesticated rat in my house (cute as they may be) really icks me out!!

 So - we have been trying the Haveaheart - catch and release trap... in hopes of catching the whole family and relocating them to the woods away from peoples homes..... so far, however, these little critters have outwitted us - taken the bait and run laughing into their holes....

life is but a dream...

Katies new Passion ... rowing .....katie has been practicing with the oak ridge rowing team the last week in hopes that she'll get to be a young 7th grade rower on this years team! And finally - yesterday - we got the news.....

She made it!! She'll be a reserve this season but the coach assured us that everyone would get to race. Plus.... Next year she'll be one year more seasoned and a year ahead of the other 8th graders that will be just starting!

So - now - it's daily practices on the lake - with blisters and sunburns - and a lot of smiles and camaraderie! Can't wait to watch those long boats fly!

DJ

Graduation number two last weekend - my nephew

DJ - Devin Jack Sherwood.....

Not only did he graduate but he played an integral

 part in the entire graduation ceremony....

Devin also put together a video that ran - with a

commemoration of several important people that could

not be there on this special day.....

 The ceremony was short but meaningful - and Kelli would

have been so proud of her son!

I know his dad was proud - and drove a very long

way to be here to see him graduate!

Nana and Pawpaw were there to cheer!

And baby Nana - so very sweet!

Overall - it was a very special day!!

A Weekend for Graduating!

This weekend was a big weekend for graduating!  There was - of course - the graduation of my oldest daughter from the University of Tennessee!  Something amazing and wonderful and so totally great in itself - but to see her name listed under the Outstanding Graduates - under the Deans Student Advisory Council and also listed with Summa Cum Laude honors.... well....  I shed a few tears....!

The ceremony was beautifuly done - with just enough dignity to seem important - but not so much so that it seemed snobby.   For such a large school with so many people it went off pretty seamlessly.

And there were a LOT of people.... they seemed to read names for a very long time.......

After calling names in no obvious order - to the stress of the waiting family members (who didn't have a clue when to cheer until their graduates names were actually called - and so had to wait on the edge of their seats .... so to speak.... for the whole time).... They finally called Jessicas - and she was at last a UT Graduate!!!!!   The Graduates did NOT throw their hats into the air... much to my dissappointment... although.. the batteries on my camera went dead at that exact minute... so .. it was probably for the best - as I would have missed that fabulous photo op anyway!

Thanks to the miricle of modern cell phone technology - we actually managed to meet up afterwards.....

For a picture......

Or two...

Our family is so supportive - taking time to be there for Jessica's important time- even though it was at the unheard of hour of 8:30 on a Friday morning.....

Aunt Kay drove a long long way just to be here! 
We love you Aunt Kay!!! 

And no occasion would be completely special without our
sweet Aunt Sadie!!

And so - Ms. Graduate - now that you have your diploma what are you going to do.....?

"I'm going  to  5 guys for  burgers and fries!"

see Jess.... I told you I wouldn't post that picture.. although... it would go perfectly.......

right......

HERE!!!

Feathered Friends

Shy and elusive - this ladderback, red bellied wood pecker took quite a few tries to capture clearly on film. 

His voice - however, is anything but shy - loud and raucious you can hear him coming a mile away!  But whip out the camera and he vanishes in an instant!

But what a beauty! - He was definitely worth the wait don't you think? 

Lunch with Friends

April is BIRTHDAY Month!

Mine and Ev's - so we went out for the "Perfect Lunch" at Bravos - our favorite lunch spot!

According to Phillipino tradition - birthday's must include noodles...a symbol for long life.... since I'm not Phillipino - I settled for pasta -ravioli to be exact  -  which should mean I'll  have a square life...(?) hmm - I guess I should probably have noodles on my actual birthday just to be sure!

Wednesday was Ev's ACTUAL birthday and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously! It was great fun to catch up and thanks to Ev's childhood friend Janine - we had some great pictures to prove it!  (Thanks Janine!)

Talking and eating and laughing - oh my!

Beautiful Visitors

I love this time of year  when the birds come fat and happy to eat on my porch - I've seen them all winter - but for some reason with the coming spring they come with ATTITUDE 

 and I love to see it! 

Even the girls look spectacular - their fluffyness giving them a soft beauty that makes the boys squabble in wild red abandon.

Then there's the visitors from out of town - the ones I  haven't seen before - that stop by to catch a bite to eat on their trips from one place to another.  I always feel honored to catch a glimpse of these feathered friends - I had to pull out my husbands bird books to find out what kind of bird this was - we decided it was a bluebird (of some sort) - never would have guessed.... : )

My Man

Looking  through some cell phone pictures I came across this one....

Now - since it was on my husband's phone - I'm not exactly sure how this got taken - probably by my daughter at great risk to life and limb (and phone) But it made me smile - there's not a whole lot of men who would spend a saturday roller skating with his wife and daughter just because..... and I LOVE that about my man!   Not to mention the fact that he ROCKS those skates don't you think?

Eddie's the one who always takes my youngest on fun trips - to the bowling alley......

The pet store

The pet store (I think he bribes her with puppies and bunnies whenever he needs to go to Home Depot)

and our annual trip to the Tennessee Valley Fair

I love that he has such a spirit of fun and takes the time to do the little things with our daughter.... even though his life is full of kitchen remodels and fence repairs. 

Kitchen Renovations VI

At last - the kitchen is finished!  well - all except for two little pieces of trim that will remain  un-mentioned - and painting and replacing the stove hood... and - - the putting back the fridge, stove and dishwasher part.....(and lining the cabinets - and putting a up a curtain...
oh good grief)

But other than THAT -  the Kitchen is finished!

In case you've forgotten what it looked like a few months ago - here's a before picture......

So - one task down - just 10 more to go! (but at least THIS one is finished!!)

Kitchen Renovations V

One step closer to getting the kitchen put back together - check out the new floor - Eddie has it done and it looks BEAUTIFUL!!

 Just pretend the cabinet doors are back on - and the weird funky wallpaper (who puts wallpaper on the end of a center island anyway?) - is not still exposed... for the purpose of this

"beautiful floor" picture.....

oh yes - and ignore the open blinds that show the still missing deck in the background... The FLOOR - FOCUS on the the floor!! - - isn't it beautiful?

and now - the cabinets.... I managed to quit the endless cycle of touch up painting long enough to get some of the doors back on and in place.  The hinges had flat head screws - I have decided I HATE flat head screws... they are the devil!  My drill kept slipping out of the groove -  knocking into the cabinets - leaving big gouges in the paint - which will mean I have to touch up some paint before all is said and done (AGAIN) - but LOOK - the cabinets have some doors!  Aren't we excited! : )

 No handles in place in this picture yet - but I have put up the wallpaper border....and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  If it hadn't stormed racoons and squirrels today- I would have gotten all of them on.  But - my dogs are afraid of thunderstorms so I had to come home and keep them company  - otherwise - they flip out!!

Great Big Gardening

Tennessee's crazy weather - with it's warm and cold fluctuations, has me all excited about spring. I looked up today and noticed that my trees were starting to get little red buds on the branches - and the warm 70 degree weather today felt like spring was on it's way. (shhh - don't remind me that the weather man keeps saying we might have snow next week - I prefer to stay in denial -
thank you very much)

I've been reading on all of my favorite blogs about how all of the more organized gardeners are pulling out their gardening planning journals, designing their spring gardens and going through last years' seeds... HA - I amd the most disorganized gardener you will ever find.... My gardens take on a life of their own - and anything that grows out of them... well - I'll show you what I mean...

When we bought our first house - we were the lucky recipients of volunteer cherry tomatoes... meaning - I didn't do anything - they just grew out of the old garden the previous owners had left behind.  That spoiled me - so I decided the next year to plant some of my own.

In typical fashion - I didn't really plan what I was going to plant - just walked through the garden center at the local Home Depot and grabbed whatever plants caught my eye.  Thus... my garden had a crazy mix of tomatoes... peppers and... for kicks - I thought I'd plant some yellow squash.....well - just ONE yellow squash plant.

My tomatoe plants did fantastic... I had mountains of tomatoes - in fact - my friends started to run from me by the end of the season - - no more tomatoes.... please!!

My peppers, however,  would never make it off the ground.  I would plant a sweet tender plant only to come back the next day and find a twig where the plant used to be.  I couldn't figure it out.  I thought it was my dog - and watched him like a hawk - but he never went near the garden....and then one day while looking out my window I saw the culprit.... A loud, obnoxious starling walked right over to my little plant - took his beak and starting at the bottom of the stem - ran his beak from  bottom to top - cleanly stripping off every leaf.   To what end I'm not sure - it's not like he ATE the leaves.... he just stripped the leaves and then flew away...laughing all the way home - I'm  sure.  

I think the starling was working in collusion with the one squash plant - because with no competition for the garden - it soon
took over the WORLD!

It dwarfed my tomatoe plants - and pushed out any chance I had of anything else growing  by shadowing the ground completely.  And let me tell you - anyone who hasn't grown yellow squash has no idea just how bad those plants can smell.... it almost broke me of eating yellow squash completely!