Yellow Gate

I love my rustic yellow gate.

Color

I love color. In my garden that is. I love bright colors like green, yellow, red, and blue mostly. I have a yellow gate going into my backyard. Actually I built the gate myself. I also have lots of green and blue bottles and vases. It's a way of making your garden come to life without anything blooming.

Nobody's Home

This picture is touching in a sad way and even a happy way. It depends on how you look at it. It reminds me of times gone by. A simpler time probably. Surely there was a wonderful family that lived here at one time with little kids playing in the yard. All the signs of a home are still there. A fireplace with no walls around it. Yet there is a mailbox. I give credit to my son Jacob. This is one of his photographs.

Clean Car

I finally got pictures of my sons' car clean. These are pictures of the honda he wrecked while on spring break. He had a blow out and ran through a pond. There was at least a 1/2 inch of water and mud inside under the carpet. His brother and I cleaned it. This is the after pictures of the inside. There is an earlier post that shows the pictures of the car after the wreck.

Bottle Trees Found On The Internet

I found these beautiful bottle trees on the internet. They're not mine. Someday maybe I'll get around to making one for my garden. I included some history on the bottle tree below. It's interesting, but I just want one because I love the colors.

The Thin Line Between Good and Evil,2003

"Once a common site in the Southern landscape, the bottle tree is now an increasing rarity as ancient folk beliefs and customs fall from the common usage. The origins of the tree go back to the ninth century. In the Congo, where hand-blown glass was hung on huts and trees as a talisman against evil, you can find the practice of removing the foliage from a tree (preferably a cedar, because all the branches point heavenward) and placing the tree in the yard of the house. The bare branches are then covered with colorful glass bottles that attract any evil spirits that may be lurking near the house. The spirit becomes mesmerized by the play of sunlight through the colorful glass and becomes trapped inside the bottle. When the wind blows past them, the moans of ensnared spirits can be heard whistling on the breeze." -The Bottle Tree: A Vanishing Southern Tradition, Bill Steer.

My Bottle Collection

These are actually my bottles in my flower garden.

I always wanted to make a bottle tree, but haven't taken the time yet. So I just stuck some metal stakes in my flower bed and put my bottle collection on each one. I love color in my garden. Especially in the winter anything colorful makes up for not having anything blooming.

Spring is Here

The Red bud tree in my backyard is blooming. It is so pretty.

New Orleans Trip

I will try to explain the pictures above.
My youngest son decided to go on Spring Break from college to New Orleans. He took along 3 friends. On the way down they had an accident in Mississippi, they had a tire blow out on the interstate doing 70 mph. They went over an embankment and through a shallow pond. The car did not come out of the pond completely. The back of the car was still in the water when it stopped. They are really lucky to be alive. Alot of very nice people stopped and ran down the hill to help. Someone called an ambulance, fire, and police. All four boys had gotten out of the car before the people even reached them. They all got out one side. The other side was in water. They were all okay and did not need to go the hospital. One guy stayed the whole time and even gave them a card and told them to call him if they needed anything else.
After paying a tow bill and putting on a tire. They started the car ( a Honda)
drove to a car wash and continued on to New Orleans. They stayed 3 days and drove back to Kentucky, a 9 hour drive.
He then drove the car to our house from college, which is almost another 2 hour drive. It needs a new radiator, fan, and alot of cleaning. The pictures above are the inside of his car. There was a 1/2 inch of mud under the carpet and seats. My oldest son is using a power sprayer to get the mud out. We removed the seats entirely, all the carpet, down to the metal. There was water still standing under the seats and in the trunk.
We already have it cleaned, I will take pictures later of the inside clean.

What is a Cat?

Gentle eyes that see so much,
paws that have the quiet touch.

Purrs to signal "all is well"
and show more love than words can tell.

Graceful movements touched with pride,
a calming presence by our side.

A friendship that will last and grow-
Small wonder why we love them so.

Author Unknown

Summer Trip

I'm really excited for my son. He will be traveling to Prague, Czech Republic this summer. He will be studying there for 6 weeks. I looked it up on google and found some great pictures. He's majoring in Photo Journalism so hopefully he will bring back some wonderful pictures.
He first told me he wanted to go last December. Even though I am excited for him, I am still scared. I want him to be an adventurer and see the world, but on the other hand I want to keep him close. When your children are small you can be with them so much, but then they grow up and you have to learn to let go. I think it is much harder for the parents than for them. After all he is 21 and there are so many places he wants to go.
He received his new updated passport Friday, so the reality really set in that he is leaving in May. He was born overseas and was issued his first passport when he was 5 months old, so that one ran out. I will miss him but also envy him in a way.

Early morning snow

This is what we woke up to at my house this morning. It was so pretty, I grabbed my camera and took some pictures before I left for work. It was about 6:15 am that accounts for the muted look. It all melted off by mid morning so I'm glad I snapped the pictures early.

So cute. Makes me Laugh

I found this somewhere on the internet. It's hilarious. They actually climb these trees and eat the fruit from them. Goats are very determined animals.

Letting Go

To let go doesn't mean to stop caring;
It means I can't do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off...
It's the realization that I can't control another...
To let go is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try and change or blame another,
I can only change myself.
To let go is not to care for, but to care about.
To let go is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes.
but to allow others to affect their own outcomes.
To let go is not to be protective,
it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny, but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue,
but to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but to take each day as it comes and cherish the moment.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone,
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To let go is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.
To let go is to fear less and love more.

Author unknown

In Memory----Our Taco

This is Taco. Jacob got him from a good friend he went to High School with in 2006. He was so active and wanted attention so bad. He was Shadows best buddy. Taco was killed near our house by a vehicle. Shadow wouldn't eat or come out of his house for 3 days. We carried water and food to him. He was grieving for his friend. We all loved Taco very much and miss him every day.

Shadow

This is our oldest Dog Shadow. Jacob got him 13 years ago. He is part husky and part Basset Hound.
He has really short legs, but long thick hair. He also has one blue eye and one brown eye. I think Jacob likes him because he is so different. Jacob likes anything that is really different. He is a very timid and friendly dog and just wants to be loved. He lost his best friend Taco about 2 months ago. I will post a picture of him next.