Tag, You're It

A Fun Tag

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Making : Halloween decorations
Cooking : apples for applesauce
Drinking : water with true lemon powder added
Reading: Can't Wait to get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
Wanting: A new tiled entryway, new counters, new carpet and new driveway
Looking: at my beautiful yard but also toward the day my allergies go away
Playing: throw the squirrel with my dog
Wasting: time on Facebook games
Sewing: mending and taking up clothes
Wishing: I was back East for the leafing season
Enjoying: the cooler weather and rain
Waiting: to eat the dark chocolate in the freezer. I don't get it out so I won't be tempted.
Liking: My great neighborhood
Wondering: when ALL my dreams will come true
Loving: My craft room more than any other room in the house
Hoping: My family doesn't get the swine flu and things work out for Shon's family
Marvelling: At the love and tender mercies of God
Needing: to get all my medical tests done
Smelling: The air after all the rain
Wearing: Contact lenses... and so thankful for them. I hate wearing glasses.
Following: All my family and friend's blogs
Noticing: My hummingbirds are not as active and some have gone for the season
Knowing: My place in the universe
Thinking: I love my life
Bookmarking: My games on Facebook
Opening: My new magazines.....yahoo for Halloween ideas
Giggling: at quotations on my home town website

Shoes Shine

Since my fall a few years ago, it has been hard to find cute shoes that will fit my foot. I had surgery on my knee, my heel, two toes and my ankle and because of the arthritis that has settled in, I have swelling all the time. I am a shoe lover and that has been hard on me. I no longer wear heels, pointy toe pumps, or even backless shoes. I love my flip flops, flats and even my Crocs because of the comfort, but I am always on the lookout for a kitten heel or a wedge that I can actually walk in. My daughters, (and now my granddaughters) are also obsessed with footwear, and I think we all have the Imelda Marcos syndrome. She had over 2700 pairs of shoes, so we have a ways to go, but the average woman has 27 pairs and I think some of us might be a little over average. I won't say who though.

How does your shoe closet measure up? No, it's not about quality, or price. It's about the cuteness quotient. You can spend a lot for your Jimmie Choos or a little for your Target brand

and if they are cute, it doesn't matter, you just need them. Oh the flowers, straps, and bows galore....be still my heart.

From Tiny to Two

From tiny......

to two.

How can it be two whole years since you were born? You have been so sweet, mellow and happy since the day you were born. There weren't too many babies that were sweeter. Now at 2, I have seen a few stubborn moments, but you are still one of the 8 sweetest grand kids in the world. Oh E we love you!! Happy Birthday little buddie.

Bee Careful

I am not an entomologist in any sense of the word. I know insects are beneficial for the diet of a bird or a contestant on a reality show, but I would rather not see any of them. There are exceptions of course such as lady bugs, butterflies, dragonflies, praying mantis and honey bees.

The problem is, I don't know exactly what a honey bee looks like. I have seen pictures and they look like they might be wearing a fuzzy little vest, but I don't like to get close enough to check. Since they are endangered, I hesitate to kill anything that looks like a bee until they enter their domains and then they are fair game. We have been inundated by wasps, hornets, yellow jackets and bees this year. We knock down a nest and the next week there are two in it's place.

It's hard to sit on the deck and eat dinner without being chased into the house. It's almost impossible to pick the blackberries without wearing a hazmat suit, and it's impossible to hang out a bird house because it is soon inhabited by hornets that chase away the birds. The hummingbirds have to fight off the wasps at their feeder and wasps have even taken up residence near my front door because it's close to my water fountain. When you add giant grasshoppers and flies to the mix, then I just want to stay indoors during certain times of the day.

This is a hornet's nest that we found out by the shed. It is huge...about the size of a cantaloupe.

This is nest #1 under the rail going up the deck steps...

Nests 2 and 3.....

Nests 4 and 5

Nest 6

Nest 7

Nest 8

And now we have 2 wasp nests (say that really fast 5 times) on the front porch .

The yellow jacket trap didn't work for us so we must not have too many of those. The spray works well on the nests but I hate having to use poison so much.

Wayne has been stung once. I haven't been yet, knock on wood....as long as that wood is not the rail going up the steps to the deck.

No, we don't live in Texas where everything is supposedly bigger than normal, but we did our part this year and Texas might have something to envy.

This is one of our blackberries. I put it next to a "C" battery so you can see the size comparison. Our 3-berry jam is much the better because of them.

These are my hibiscus flowers and you wouldn't be able to judge their size if I had just taken a photo, but when placed next to beautiful faces, you can tell that they are bigger than dinner plates. My granddaughter Isabelle and daughter Amy are my models.