Tag Archives: nature

One year later

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One year ago today, October 5th, we purchased our home. One year later, I see the blessing in it all. Not that I didn’t already know, but as I sit here watching all the wildlife just in our back yard, our un-secret garden is a wonderland for so many birds, bees, butterflies; squirrels and groundhogs and to take the time to watch them work, is one of the most satisfying activities for the preacherman and myself.

When we knew we wanted to own our own home again after living seven years in the parsonage, the search began…. Something that I love to do… the hunt is all the fun! After a few maybes, I found it.. the one….the “only one!” But someone else found it also..grrrrr. They beat us out, better offer and such. I was sad but since I know that the lord is in control ( with me helping of course!) I just sucked it up, and let it go. Like a grown up, mature adult!

Does anyone know me? If you do you are laughing now because I had already decided that house was mine.. my sister and I had already thoroughly looked at it on line and in person, we arranged the furniture, planned the new flowers to plant, had visions of sugar plums dancing In our heads, already. This house was my house! I just needed the other people who rudely gave a better offer to back out.. it could happen! Maybe it will I prayed, maybe they will decide to not move her from the far off land they were moving from, silly out of staters! I let my realtor know I was here hoping and praying, I let her know ( several times, on the daily). Poor women who I only met house-hunting, who would eventually regret it I’m sure, has been pestered ( texted) to death by me.

Zip ahead a really long month, what’s taking them so long.. move in already or take down your sign y’all, nothing was happening there, not that I checked every day( that was not me driving around the block…noo! ) but, if this house is getting bought something needs to show it! No “pending “ sign or nothing! Ugh my impatience is in overdrive because no other house compares to this one, they all are just okay. Nothing special homes are a dime a dozen in the world and it was becoming obvious that I was going to be stuck with one.. once again I ask.. do you know me?

So one Tuesday I let my realtor know ,again, that if something should happen to cause the buyers to “change their minds” please tell them we want first dibs! Well, this was about the third time I had relayed this info as if she’s dumb or didn’t hear me or anything that could cause her to not know this obviously ridiculous request. It is a beautifully cool house how could they not want it? …. BUT.. the next day, on a Wednesday morning, the preacherman and I were at the church, praying never ceasing, interceding for the whole world, doing all the real Jesus stuff ya know… (ha!) and my phone rings!! She says… “ you are not going to believe it!!! They backed out!!” After much jumping up and down I reply.. calmly.. ( not) “ oh really, why?”…. Apparently they had to be in by a certain date and the repairs they needed done could not be done in time.. so they changed their minds!!!!!!!!

Then, we had to come back with our best offer, within a few hours.. they accepted and it was ours!! Holy smokes! Did y’all see that, the Lord moved a mountain! I immediately cried because all that hope became real..in real time, the real life God, gave us the dream. Not free of course but He supplied the capabilities to do this. I will forever know that this was a huge long shot, my realtor I think was also shocked, bless her heart, she worked for it, and continued to, during our laborious process, impatience on my part. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad? Hmmm, I kid, I kid! Now I know I was annoying to her, but she’s a friend now( I think) and we have had better days since then, I randomly text her over silly stuff and she actually answers back.

One year ago today, our family got our home, it is like a vacation home really, the most relaxing place on earth. It’s hard to leave it, the yard is a wonderful display of nature, we have added flowers and solar lights for the new paths, the screened porch is my favorite place besides the sunroom like windows in the family room where Leo the cat and Leesi the dog, watch all the activities outside with me. Today, the groundhog has the nerve to waddle right onto our side patio, sit up and snack on acorns from the huge trees we are blessed with and smirk at our inside animals… probably with pity! I honor the life in the yard, I honor the people who built this house in 1955… I honor the sweet lady who lived in and loved it for so long last.

Thank you to all who came before us, we will try our best to take care of it and enjoy the nature all around us. This is not a brag, in all humility I am thankful for the opportunity to be the caretaker for a little while. We are smack dab in the middle of this little city, in one of the original subdivisions but it feels like we are in the country. We are surrounded by joy and on this day I honor the day that we became caretakers of this special place. I know I can be a bit dramatic about it but seriously it is spectacular! Thank you Lord and a preacherman that follows my heart with me. We both are such bird nerds now. But so much fun!

Who Done It?

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I can’t leave the past holiday time without a reflection on one of the prettiest signs of the season…the majestic Poinsettia plant/flower. Just as the first signs of springs, the Crocus and Daffodils, poke their little htn-1ead’s thru the hard earth, to reveal hope for the coming spring….so goes it with the Poinsettia. These plants scream…..MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

This year, someone very special sent me one, very dramatically I might add, from a real florist…all festive and decorated up, huge and fancy. I was taken aback…..I LOVE TO RECEIVE FLOWERS!!! It is my guilty pleasure….(well…. one of them) and I know it is a waste of good money ..blah blah blah….but, if something causes this much joy then WHY NOT? The drama was…. it is still a mystery who…. it came from….WHO DONE IT? I guess I could have called the florist and begged to know…but, why take all the fun out of it?

Many people took credit for the gift, once I thanked the secret flower sender on FACEBOOK …everyone chimed in, it was them….and that is okay too. It made the love feel even more huge. I have a sneaky suspicion who may have sent it….but, If they had wanted me to know they would have signed the card with more than...LOVE YA! But that is enough and what I needed to hear and feel so it was great. Sometimes this is the difference between hanging on or giving up…..I will take all the LOVE YA’S I can get!

So to my friend, whom ever you may be…THANK YOU for making my day and I hope that you get back just as good a friend as I have in you…whoever you may be…..and I hope I am that to you too……

tnGood bye sweet Poinsettia…you were on your way out and this cold icy frost did you in but it sure looks pretty on you!

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Good Mornin’ Buddy!

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"I didn't do it!!!"
“I didn’t do it!!!”

Buddy....a bit camera shy!
Buddy….a bit camera shy!

There is someone who is always glad to see me….always ready for a pat on the head or actually a kiss dead in the mouth! Not from me though….he enjoys the daily gulp out of the toilet….sooooo no thanks…maybe that is like fine wine to a dog but, not this girl!

This silly dog is a adopted street dog….he was actually left on the curb in East Nashville, the shady but up-incoming hipster area of town. My niece found him floundering…just a teacup size pup. Last great words, …..”he is probably going to be really small!” Well, he is only fourteen pounds but, leggy and has a bark as loud as any German shepherd! Take it from anyone who dares ring our doorbell…..yikes!

If anyone ever actually attempted to enter unwelcome, I am not at all sure he would bite, although my sons best friend may disagree, he took a nip once….but, as Buddy said……”that is his story!”..needless to say he is a good alert to stranger danger. Although when a doorbell rings on the television….here we go all over again. Nearly gives me a heart attack, but when it isn’t real he just gruffs back to his spot…on top of me.

He is only happy when he is laying on you, by you, touching you in some way. He is a very cuddly dawg and seems to need the attention. When I think of him wandering the cold city Babe (film)streets…alone, sad…hungry…crying and saying ….(to take a line from Babe the pig)….”I miss my MoM!…I have to just let him pile up on me. No dog has ever been so needy.

He has this weird habit though. He will sit beside me and somehow pull his back paw up and suck on it, like a pacifier. Seriously he has it in his mouth and just kinda leaves it there, not really sucking on it but like a thumb…for security maybe?….never in my life have I heard of this? It is funny and sad too, makes me wonder if dogs are really people too…every time I look into his eyes I keep thinking there is someone in there looking back at me.

So on this early morning, I have to give my little buddy…Buddy a big smile. Dogs are the most kind faces and the most grateful of all animals. I love cats too, they have their place..and if you don’t believe it just ask them, they are Independent if anything. Dogs are ever present and all over the place and ready to run and fetch or jump (for which Buddy does, at least five feet high every time he wants to go outside, such a nut!) and are there to hug you and lick your face.

They are definitely all our best friends and even though I gripe and complain and had to replace the carpet (in his defense, he does not have opposable thumbs to open the door to let himself out) and even when his hair sheds all over and he is under my feet in the kitchen ALL THE TIME….I love that scruffy little nerdy dog.

Also, I am sorry we can’t give you a chew toy for Christmas, I can’t be an enabler any longer. When you would rather have a toy or rawhide bone or whichever instead of eating or potty breaks or anything else…you have a problem. I would have to start a new meeting…DA (Dogs Anonymous) for your addictive personality. Yep, I know what you would say….it’s your Mom’s fault! I have heard it all before, get a new line!!!

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June…here we go!

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SO the month of June is upon us and for me it is the beginning of real summer. Today is the beginning of all things summer…hot days, flip-flops, old lady shorts (pedal pushers) as well as “happy hour” at SONIC! Gotta love them cherry lime-aides! Yes, it has happened…I am not cool any more.

This does not come to me as a surprise…I felt it coming….creaking joints, pain in the back, and gray hair. I can take it all except the gray hair. I am not willing to give into that one. Gotta keep it colored. Makes since why my mom did it..now! Back in the day I was pushing April to wear flip flops…even if my toes were a bit chilly, I was there. Then cut-off jean shorts and a raggedy tee-shirt and I was good to go. Now days I usually schlep around in corrective looking sandals and pedal pushers with a “big” shirt as to cover that “oh so spacious” acreage around the middle. OH Lordy!!

June is the place of beginnings…schools out and time to have fun…lay by the pool, put SunIn in my hair and listen to top forty on the radio. But that was a long time ago and I am not so sure girls do that anymore….the Sun-In and top forty radio. They have become so sophisticated now….foiled hair and IPods are the choices now! At least June has stayed the same.

June bugs are a cool product of June as well as all the fat yellow and black striped bumble bees. Have there ever been a more cute insect? Considering the word insect I think not. Maybe a Caterpillar because of the fuzzy factor but not really because of the wormy-ness too close to its ancestor the snake. Also, June is the month you start to hear the ice cream truck. Yesterday, probably as a pre-June trial run, I heard the music way in the distance and it made me smile.

June is also a good month for a picnic. The heat is usually not as hot as in July and August so this is the best time for a picnic. Later in the year it will be unbearable. I actually mean the ones that are in the backyard, under a tree with the wind blowing, laying on your back watching the leaves twirl. There is no more peaceful a place than on a quilt laying under the trees. Unless you are fortunate to have a hammock that is. Now that is livin’!

June is also a good time to shop for back to school clothes..shorts that is. They are on sale about now and good to start the hot new year. In Tennessee it is hot right up through Halloween most of the time, so we wear summer clothes till we are sick of them. We can’t wait for that first cool crisp evening and the turning of the leaves. (oops different month!)

So to wrap up this frivolous homage to June, I will end with a hope and a wish. I hope everyone takes the time to picnic under the trees, while the grass is still fresh and green, take your shoes off and let your feet breath and walk in the crispness. Take caution for the June bugs but are brave enough to catch one, tie a thread around its leg and play….I suppose that may be not so PC! Would that go under the heading of endangerment to insects? If so forgive me and do not do it. Just enjoy watching them buzz along with the Bumble Bees….look for Zenia’s they love those!

Now on to a wish….a wish for summer to last as long as it did when I was a kid. It was nearly six months worth or it felt like it. If not that then, for the summer to be FUN! We all need a bit of FUN! I revel in the summer sun and it is a commodity I wish could be bottled up. If only I could, to take away those ugly, sad, cold winter months. No matter how hot it is it is never as bad as the cold…bitter cold of winter.

So June….here we go, oh how I adore thee!

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