Birds flew the "coup."

The last baby bird flew the ‘coup!’ I’m so glad I got his picture! I was standing at the window and saw him up on the edge of the nest, so I went out the back door and snuck around to get his picture. I got it and then he FLEW away! I kept watching for him to come back all day, but never saw him again. I just went out and looked and nobody is home. Maybe they’ll come back, but I doubt it. I think I have my door and porch back. I’m going to leave it just like it is while we’re gone. Maybe they’ll use it while we’re gone. If they still aren’t there when we get back, then I’ll clean it up and paint the door. Maybe they’ll come back next year; I hope so!

His picture is on the blog today. The other pictures are the guys trimming the tree out back. They left it still looking good from our angle, but it is absolutely flat on the side by the wires. They did one side yesterday and were back this morning to finish the other side. We can see through it to the park beyond it, so we like it better.

We’re just about ready to go on our trip. I have all the clothes packed and the rest of everything is last minute stuff; herbs, vitamins, etc. We are really traveling light so that we’ll have room for all the kids’ stuff. Traveling light is a whole new concept for me. I like to take EVERYTHING. That’s really dumb, so traveling light will be good for us.

Yesterday I made my appointment for my follow up thermogram on June 19th. It’ll be done in Oklahoma City. I’m looking forward to that and I’ll let you all know how it goes as soon as I know any details. After we get the results from it we will know more about the direction of our lives from that point. I don’t expect much to change. I will spend the rest of my life in aggressive defense mode. The best offense is a good defense, right? God is in charge, so we’ll see how He leads. He blesses and I count and give thanks. PTL!

Purple Finch family pictures!

Time is so flying! I’m getting ready, though and we’ll be ready to go Saturday morning.

Today was such an awesome day! I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the Purple finch babies today. They were sticking their heads up so big and one even gets up on the side of the nest! They’re nearly as big as the mother. I figure they’ll be gone by the time we get home, so I just had to snap their picture. They are so cute! There appears to be only 3 in there. I got one of the eggs that was out on the porch; I wonder what happened to the other one??? God knows all the secrets and one day He will tell us if we need to know.

Anyway, the first picture on the blog today is the 3 of them hiding down low in the nest. Remember, you can click on the pictures and see them really big if you want to see details. Isn't that cute, how they pile up like a pile of kittens?

The second picture is of Mr. And Mrs. Purple finch sitting on the rim of the basketball goal keeping their eyes on me as I snapped the picture of the babies. I’m surprised they didn’t dive bomb me. I think when I open the door, the birds and nest are actually inside the house, so they are afraid to come in and get me. They were sure watching me, though! Then later I looked out the window and a baby was up on the edge of the nest, so I went out the back door and snuck around the house. He stayed there, so I got his picture up on the edge. That’s the third picture.

I’m so proud of this family. I’ll be glad when they’re gone, though; I can have my porch back. Looks like I’ll have to paint the door, but that’s okay. It’s been worth it to watch them.

Besides the birds we had action going in the alley behind the house. The big tree trimmers were here trimming a tree right behind our house that was interfering with the electric lines. We were like a couple of kids watching firemen; it was pretty cool to us. Of course I got pictures. I’ll put those on the blog some day, but today is full of purple finches.

I’m washing and packing, so I’m out of here. Remember that God is right with us every moment; what a comfort and yet another blessing to count!

oops! Forgot!

You know that life is too busy when I forget to do the blog. We went to bed and Don said, "You've had a big day." I was getting ready to say I don't even remember what I did and it reminded me that I hadn't done the blog! I jumped out of bed and ran in here to make an entry.


I didn't do anything big today, just our regular exercising, etc. Oh, I did cut a couple of heads of hair and cut toe nails and finger nails for our friend Floyd who can't see to do it. Otherwise, just regular stuff. Well, I did Don's hair and toe nails. I guess that adds up to a bunch? Anyway, no pictures because I just jumped out of bed to come in here and write this. We're fine, here; don't worry about us. I'm just busy getting ready to go on our trip this weekend. Don is a sweetheart; he took me out to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner.

I'll write more and better tomorrow. God bless us all!!!

Humbled today.

Don took me ‘kicking and screaming into today.’ AGAIN, he was right and I was wrong. It turned out to be a great day! On the way there, he suggested maybe I should just go home because it was pretty obvious I didn’t feel good. I felt fine. I just had an attitude because I wasn’t expecting to enjoy today. I couldn’t seem to figure out how I was going to get all my meds taken, etc. It became a big logistics and mathematical problem to me, and I was ‘suffering’ it just so I could go to the square and go to an art show when my goal is to down size and not buy anything and watch a parade when I can never see a parade because the world is taller than me and standing in front of me.

My number one goal in life is to please God, but I thought I could do that just as well from home. My next goal is to please Don, so I wanted to go wherever he wanted to go; but, then there was the parade and I hate parades. UGH. When he suggested I go home, I figured I’d better ditch the attitude because if he’d rather go by himself I must be flunking at the pleasing him goal. So, we went to the square and had a great time! It was not our regular Arts on the Square that we have every year, but it was the town’s Centennial celebration. There was a dead tree on the square and they had a guy here a couple of weeks ago that carved that tree into a statue of the Indian Chief Lonewolf with chain saws! There is a picture of it on the blog today; it’s AWESOME. We saw LOTS of people who we don’t see often, so that was fun, too. There was beautiful art displayed and some great art from kids. I was marveling at some by a kid named Shea Furgeson; the name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure why. Then a lean guy says, “I drew that,” which I was admiring. He was such a nice kid, and we struck up a conversation with him. Turns out he is 16 and plays football, basketball and baseball, which we’ve watched, but I just didn’t recognize him out of uniform. It was very refreshing to meet such a nice kid with a great talent, even though he’s not one of my grandkids. I’m certainly a fan of his and will enjoy watching his progress in all the sports, as well as enjoy his art next year on the square.

It turned out that I found a position for the parade where I could SEE for the first time in my life. I really prayed that God would make it rain today or make some way for me to miss the parade. Instead He made a way for me to see the parade. There were lots of people in the parade that I knew and it was way fun to see them! God is so amazing; I thank Him for being in control so that I don’t mess up everything!

We kept finding David and Dorothy, our good friends, and ended up having lunch with them at the Mexican restaurant. Then we met up with them again this evening for the entertainment with awesome local talent at the football stadium. General Tommy Franks spoke twice today. Once was at the dedication of the mosaic on the square which is really awesome. I didn’t take a picture because there were lots of people on it. Maybe I’ll get one soon and put it on the blog. He spoke again tonight, and I love that guy, so I would have missed his speeches if I’d wormed out of today. God knew I needed to hear him. How lucky are we to have a 4 star general retire and move to the Hobart area? He built a house on his wife’s family ranch a few miles out from town; the street where our house is was named after his mother-in-law (Gaynelle), because this land all used to belong to her father. He is such a down to earth guy and I sure like the way he thinks, so it was refreshing to me to get to hear him twice. I took pictures of him speaking on the square and included them on the blog today.

I’m thanking God for taking care of me even when I’m fighting; and for giving me a wonderful husband who loves me anyway; and for people in my life who love me enough to read my ups and downs and love me anyway.

Have a great holiday weekend and remember the folks who have gone on before us: treasured memories!

We’ve had a great day and got all our exercise done; I still need to jiggle, so I’ll do that as soon as I finish the blog. There isn’t much news for the blog. The pictures today are a couple I took from right near the falls when we climbed down into the 40-foot hole on our Reserve adventure. (Just to prove we climbed down there. Ha!)

The update on the baby birds is that they are certainly growing. They don’t make any noise, but they are so funny. They sit there with their mouths wide open in case food comes by and falls into their mouths. Sometimes they stretch their wings and it looks like they might fall out of the nest; I sure hope they don’t because they are so not ready! They still look very awkward and unable to walk, let alone fly! The mother and father both feed them, but leave them alone in the nest rather often. I’m so anxious to take another picture, but I’m too afraid the parents will abandon them if I do. I could stick the camera up there and one of them could jump up and bump it and then they’d have my scent on them. Maybe I can get a picture this week from the driveway of them standing up above the nest; I hope so!

God blesses us so richly; I thank Him.

It’s been a great Saturday. We were able to get in our walk and it was really great weather for it; cloudy, so not too hot and the wind wasn’t blowing us so that we couldn’t stand! It was foggy this morning, so we didn’t go to the ‘fly in’ that was scheduled at the airport. We had planned to go and on my list of things I wanted to do it was somewhere around 3 million, so I was thrilled to miss it. I only appreciate flying when there is someplace to GO; flying to burn up fuel and do wild stuff makes as much sense as Russian roulette to me. I did my Power Plate routine and like it better and better each time I do it.

Tonight we had 12 people here playing Hand and Foot Canasta, so we played two tables of 6. It was the same group that played last night out at David and Dorothy’s. We had so much fun and decided the girls will all go Thursday to have lunch out to celebrate school out and Diana’s birthday. The guys will probably go do barbecue or some guy thing while we go to the Pantry which is pretty much a tearoom. We made plans for lunch tomorrow at the Mexican place after church.

The pictures on the blog today are more shots of the 40-foot hole that we hiked to see at the reserve last week. That is really something special for this part of the country. The mountains and the hole; it’s really flat land out here, except for the Reserve. We love it!

It’s past bedtime. I came in here to check the weather and found that we have thunderstorms predicted for tonight, so I’ve got to shut down the computers and unplug the Power Plate. Jo Ann and Frank had their house struck by lightening this week and lost lots of electrical things; no major appliances, but smaller things like the answering machine, a phone, the computer modem, etc. I don’t want to have issues like that, so I’ll go unplug a bunch of stuff. I remembered the blog just in time!

Love you all; count the blessings and enjoy all God has entrusted to us, but don’t forget to thank Him!

Carpet cleaning day.

Whew! It’s been another busy day. I can’t remember all we did, but I’m tired. I’ve got tot jiggle before I go to bed. We got the walking done and the Power Plate. Then I got all involved doing the laundry and cleaned the carpet in our bathroom. Don vacuumed the house for me. God love him! We played cards at Dorothy and David’s tonight; what fun! Tomorrow night we’re playing here.

I’ve got to go jiggle before I go to bed or my back will gripe at me all night. The pictures on the blog are from our Reserve adventure last week. One is the wild turkey; one is the 40-foot ‘hole’ that we hiked to see; and the other is a bunch of prairie dogs. What a great day it was and the pictures bring back great memories.

Have a great weekend; smell the roses and count the blessings! Our God is great!

Shaping up!

I should be so shaping up! Today we did our full walk; I got my full hour of jiggling done; and it was my work out day on the Power Plate. I do feel really good, so all that must be good for me.

Ebay had a listing sale today, so I listed a bunch of ‘stuff’ this morning. It sounds easy, but it took me all morning. If I just get rid of the ‘stuff’ that’ll be good! It’ll motivate me to get ready for our trip next week, too, because the auctions are all ending next Thursday, so I have to be ready to go so I can get everything shipped out on Thursday and Friday.

We’re going to Roy’s Backyard Barbeque for dinner out with Dorothy and David. That’ll be fun. We can sit and visit with them forever and never get tired of it. The food at Roy’s is good, too.

On the blog today are pictures of collared lizards we caught on camera last week when we had our breathtaking adventure to the reserve. Notice how they are able to fit right into God’s décor. It was a great day for lizard watching!

The little birds must be growing, but we don’t see any more activity than before. The mother leaves them more than she did; I guess she’s getting food to bring back because when she comes back she’s very busy. They don’t stick their heads up much, but enough to let us know they’re still there.

Count the blessings and plan a safe holiday weekend. Remember the Veterans are blessings to count, too. All of us have Vets in our families; some very close. I’m proud to be the daughter and sister and sister-in-law to great Veterans in my eyes.

Dive bombed!

Today on our walk we were dive bombed by a couple of mocking birds. We used to have a cat that the mockingbirds tormented and bombed her whenever they were around, but they’ve never bothered us before. Don said, “There must be a baby out of the nest or something like that.” So we looked all around, and sure enough over in the grass was a baby bird. I got up as close as I could and got the picture that’s on the blog today. One of the big birds was watching from the wire above, so I got him, too. They didn’t ever touch us, but they were threatening. It was kind of wild. Once we weren’t near the baby, they left us alone.

On our walk is a big puddle that a wouldn’t be there if the city would put in a culvert. We don’t have the culvert, so when it rains we have a puddle for a while. Since the water is there, so are tadpoles. Cool, huh? Yeah, that excites me, so I got a picture of the tadpoles, too. I keep watching for them to grow feet. If the puddle lasts, I’ll get a picture when they grow feet. You don’t know how tempted I am to go gather up some water and tadpoles; if Gabe was here, I know we’d do that! I sent him a picture because I doubt if he looks at the blog. Gabe is our 12-year-old grandson who has the snake; he loves everything, especially if it’s wild.

I FINISHED all the herb and vitamin packaging for the next 30 days. Whew! It feels good to be done. Now I have to start getting ready to do the next batch! I’ll open up the packages that we order and have them ready to add our additions the next time I ‘throw.’ I’ll open packages as we watch TV a few at a time, here and there. I don’t watch that much TV, so it takes me weeks to get ready for the next batch. It’s pretty much an ongoing process.

I made a batch of Essiac Tea today, too. That is certainly an ongoing thing. I’m sort of used to the taste, but it’s not good. The gritty part is the worst. I feel like I’m drinking tadpole water. That’s okay if it keeps cancer away.

I’m feeling like I did with the last round of oral meds: really sleepy at times and sort of icky at times. It’s not horrible; it’s just that I notice it. I only mention it to keep you posted, not to complain. Again, my biggest problem is the scheduling and remembering to take everything. I keep the phone nearby and use it to remind me.

The baby birds seem to be about the same; nothing new that I can tell.

God bless us all! I’m counting blessings and I’m up higher than I can really count!

Good news; bad news, regarding the birds.

So, today, regarding the bird saga, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I got a picture of a couple of little heads as they stick up above the nest. The bad news is that a broken egg appeared on the porch, so I guess the mother threw it out when she found that it was a defunct egg. Of course, I picked it up and brought it in to get pictures. (Eyes rolled.) I have pictures on the blog of the little heads sticking up and the broken egg, so you can believe it with me. Remember, you can see more details if you click on the picture. We know that there are 3 little birds in there. We’ve seen three stick up their heads and open their mouths wide enough to gobble down a whole egg. They do that when she is there feeding them. When she is not there, they just sit with their mouths closed. There might be more than 3 in there, or there might be another bad egg in the nest. The mother is pecking at something on the end where the babies are not. We only saw one whole egg when we got that first fuzzy picture, but I guess there could have been an egg underneath. Maybe if the eggs don’t hatch in due time the mother pecks on it to help it out if it’s good or to determine for sure that it’s not good? It’s been so interesting to watch!










Today also, there were baby purple finches on the front porch with another mother purple finch feeding them. They are more developed than the ones on the door. They can fly, but they just fly onto the porch and then jump around peeping until the mother who is just a tad bigger than them feeds them the seed we have out there. It’s almost comical to watch; they are so impatient!

The rest of the good news is that I did the beginner exercises on the Power Plate today. I think it’s got to be a great thing. We’re only supposed to do it 3 days a week and not consecutively because it’s so strong. It’s hard to describe, but it is called vibration exercise. I was afraid the vibrations would make me sick, but it doesn’t. It’s another very interesting thing. Many high profile athletes use this type of exercise to build bone and muscle strength, improve circulation, etc.

I am nearly done with the herb and vitamin throwing. I just have to package them; I should finish tomorrow. At least they are thrown and I won’t have to do it again for a month.

Count the blessings; they are EVERYWHERE. God is so good!

Power Plate and Jiggler.

We have busy day after busy day. It’s hard to travel and catch up. Today was catch up day and there were extra things like throwing herbs and setting up the Power Plate. Ugh. I’m running late. I’ll have to finish the herbs and vitamins tomorrow. Thankfully, I have enough for tomorrow already done. Tomorrow I will use the Power Plate for the first time, too. There just isn’t time tonight. I did get on it for a few seconds and my mother is somewhere smiling because I have been ‘shook ‘til my teeth rattled.’ I hope I can stand it!

Lady Bird is sitting faithfully with the babies, but she does leave them for longer periods. They aren’t making any noise, yet, but we can see a head stick up above the nest every now and then. Soon maybe I can get another picture. They’ll get bigger and their heads will stick up, I hope; then I can get a picture from the driveway, I hope.

The pictures on the blog today are the Power Plate and my in home chiropractor, the Jigglin George. I have NO problem with George; he keeps me mobile!

I’m off to get a bath and get to bed, counting blessings as I go. God bless us all!

Winning is SWEET!

Wow! Our guys WON their tournament! They scored 8 every game today. I don’t remember what the others scored, but it was always less than that. Our guys were hitting and they were defending. They did everything right, and how exciting it was for all of us! The weather was PERFECT, so we weren’t drained from heat or wind and we didn’t get rained out; it was just PERFECT! Nobody got hurt. It was just PERFECT!

The only picture on the blog today is the winning team! Our son, David, is the dad coach on the right in the back and our grandson, Bruce, is in the middle of the back row of kids. I didn’t realize he is actually the tallest on our team, but I should have known that. They all seem to have grown like weeds since last year, so I’m so amazed at all of them. Their height might be their least asset, though. They are all wonderful kids, bright, big hearted, and talented and skilled players. Just ask any of us grandmas at the field!

Don and I had a safe trip and enjoyed more wildflowers along the way as well as our usual reading and discussions. It was dark when we got home, but I turned the light on the front porch to check on Lady Bird. She appears to be sitting on the nest, so I guess all is well out there.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. I’ve got the throw herbs and vitamins for the next 30 days; I’ll get started on it, at least. The main thing is that our Power Plate is coming. That’s a piece of exercise equipment that we’ve ordered and are very excited to be getting. I’ll tell you more about it after it gets here.

I’m headed to bed, thanking God until I fall asleep.

Baseball update.

We tied the first game, 2-2. The second game we won 8-1. It sure felt good to win. The guys were playing great. We play next at noon tomorrow. We're whipped and headed to bed. PTL and count the blessings. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Baseballing . . .

I'm thinking it's going to be late tonight when we get done with the baseball games since we're starting late, so I thought I'd do a blog entry right quick before we leave for Wichita Falls. If I get a chance tonight I'll write, but the last game is scheduled for 8 and they are usually late, so I'm thinking I'll just fall into bed after my bath tonight.

We had breakfast at church this morning. They had a fellowship breakfast and the men were fixing breakfast! How cool was that? Let me tell you the best part. I didn't want to go because I can't eat biscuits and gravy and don't want the rest. I just take all my pills with a piece of rye bread and that's a good breakfast for me. (So, I did that before we went.) I wanted to participate, though, and I wanted Don to have a breakfast he really enjoys, so we went. The part that was so cool, was this. When we got there everyone was just around talking and the guys were cooking. Don went over and checked to be sure all was going well in the kitchen and then came back and told me they didn't have anyone who could make gravy, so would I do it? That's my calling! Gravy I can do! I was so pleased to be able to go in there with the guys and do my gravy thing. It feels good to be needed and appreciated, especially from Don but from the other folks, too. It was cool!

The pictures on the blog today are from our trip to the reserve the other day. I usually take all the pictures, but Don wanted to get one of me with the 3 waterfalls in the background. I was scared to get out there on the edge, but pleased that he wanted to help with the pictures. We hiked down to the waterfalls, too. It was so much fun!

My sister called a while ago to tell us about the death of a good friend's son in a car accident last night. What a shock and loss. God tells us to give thanks in all things, and sometimes it's hard to do that. There are lots of blessings in every situation, even shock and loss. I'll be counting the blessings of Greg's life; I pray that they can, too. When my mom died I was so at a loss! The greatest help in her death and in every one since then has been this quote from an unknown author: "How long does a man live? It is as long as you can touch him or as long as he touches you? . . . " That tells me that we never have to give up our loved ones; we only give up their bodies. God lets us keep them in our minds, so we have them as long as we have our minds. We learned from Don's dad that when we lose our minds, it doesn't matter or hurt. God blesses and I give Him praise and thanks.

Wild flowers from the reserve.

Whew; today I got a chance to catch my breath. We stayed around the house and nothing incredible happened. We got our walk done this morning and I got my jiggling done and wore the kangoojumps while I dusted and did the floors. We got up early so I could make brownies for the canasta crew tonight, and I made Essiac tea because it was time. No wonder I’m tired; it’s been a full day. We won all 3 canasta games, so I’ll sleep well; I always do, anyway.

Tomorrow we go to Wichita Falls to watch another tournament with Bruce. They don’t play until 4, so we don’t have to rush to get there or even leave early. We’ll get up and pack in the morning, so I’m going to bed early tonight. I think it’s too late for that, but I’m going right after I get this blog done. Tonight’s pictures are the hot pink cactus and the Missouri Primrose, then a shot looking down over a bank of coreopsis and Indian Blanket (Galardia) with the hot pink cactus toward the bottom. (Remember; click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see more details.) See why it was so breathtaking to be hiking around among all those beautiful flowers? It was so perfect!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend. Count the blessings with me and thank God!

I stand amazed!

“LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS YOU TAKE BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY.”

Today was filled with breath taking moments! Our trip to the reserve with David and Dorothy was such a treat! We enjoyed every moment and came home entirely breathless! After I dumped the pictures that were pretty much duplicates or weren’t worth keeping, I still had 61!!! How do I choose what to share with you first???

First of all the birds seem to be fine. The mother and father are very busy with feeding in the nest, so I think all must be well. The must have forgiven me for taking pictures yesterday. I’m not going to ever get that close to the nest again, though. I was so scared she wasn’t coming back until she came back. I don’t want to go there, again. I’ll take one when they get big enough to hold their heads up over the nest.

Today we saw Buffalos, deer, wild turkeys, prairie dogs and MANY collared lizards close enough to get great pictures. Besides that I got great pictures of Missouri Primrose and hot pink blooming cactus, whatever their real name is. I don’t know where to begin with sharing pictures. The day was PERFECT. I told Don it felt like a Kona day because the weather was not to hot; not too cool; not too windy, but PERFECT. Plus we were enjoying perfect companions and we paid over $3 a gallon for gas! We love being in Kona, but it’s great to be at home in Oklahoma and have a Kona day, too! God is so great!

I put awesome pictures on the blog from Hawaii; well now you’ll be getting awesome pictures on the blog from Oklahoma. The reserve is Oklahoma’s best kept secret in our opinion, and we had the opportunity to get gobs of great pictures to share with you from this ‘secret’ today. I’ll share them along the way when there is nothing new happening around here.

I’ll begin with the buffalo, deer, and a precious picture of David feeding a prairie dog. David was sitting there watching the other many prairie dogs and felt this little guy on his knee. What a treasure! It’s an example of how breathless the whole day was.

Thank God for a day full of treasured moments, so much a sample of our whole lives!

Breath taking moments!

What an exciting day! I got up at 6 to drink my first dose of Essiac tea and went first to the window to check on the birds. On my way to the window I glanced at the magnolia bloom and it looked about like it did yesterday, which I still loved. Of course I saw nothing when I spied on the birds, so I drank my tea and went back to bed. Then we got up at 8 and I went straight to the window. I glanced at the magnolia and, “LIFE IS NOT MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF BREATHS YOU TAKE BUT BY THE MOMENTS THAT TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY.” It was one of THOSE MOMENTS!!! In the two hours since I’d looked at it, it was fully open. It is so gorgeous. (Dana, it’s not as perfect as the picture you sent, but it’s on my dining room table, so I think it’s perfect!) I took a picture and it’s on the blog today!

We went walking and I was able to catch a shot of a heron that we get to see a lot. I’ll put her on tomorrow’s blog. More breath taking moments!

Today, the Lady bird was off the nest, so I talked Don into opening the door and taking a peek into the nest. He said, ”I think one has hatched.” He just took a quick look because we didn’t want her to abandon the nest because we were looking. Of course we’ve beat a trail to the dining room window going there so much today. We’ve seen the male feeding the female several times. Then we see her sitting there bobbing her head up and down into the nest, so we figure he’s bringing food to her and then she feeds it to the babies. There are at least 2 other female purple finches that are feeding on the seed, finally. There are a host of sparrows out there making a mess, too. One time I watched the male down there feeding off the fallen seeds and then he flew up to the nest, but then flew away. I couldn’t stand it. No bird was on the nest, so I took my stool to the front door, opened it and climbed up and took a picture. Of course I’m still not tall enough to look into the nest, so I have to hold the camera up and shoot. I got several no good pictures, but I got this one that is good, but I still can’t tell too much about it. It looks to me like all of them except one have hatched. I can’t identify 4 birds, but I can identify one egg and I can subtract. There were 5 eggs and there is only 1 left, so there must be 4 birds. It’s really all a bunch of pink skin and fluff. I sure hope she doesn’t get mad and not come back to the nest. She let me take a picture of the eggs; surely she will let me take that picture of the babies. Anyway, it was exciting. I’ll feel bad if she never comes back! I’m not going to do that anymore; it’s too nerve racking! If they get big enough to stick their head up over the nest, then I’ll take a picture from the driveway. Good grief; I thought we owned that door, but I guess THEY own it because they sure have taken control of it!

God amazes me every day! Tomorrow we are going to the reserve to hike. Dorothy and David are going with us. They are taking lawn chairs and will sit and enjoy nature while we hike. Then we’re all going to picnic for lunch. That’ll be another day of breath taking moments; I’m excited about tomorrow, too. Our cup over runs and we give thanks!

Another bit of what makes Jo . . .

I guess if you read the blog each day you will put together the pieces that make me. You know that small, simple things thrill me. You know that I love the flowers in the yard, especially if I can cut them and bring them inside. You know I love my magnolia tree in the front yard. Today’s picture is my first bloom from the magnolia tree. I love this bloom! Tomorrow it will be open and even more beautiful. I wish I could give you the fragrance on the blog!

When we moved into our house in Oklahoma City about a hundred years ago (actually, I think it was 24 years ago) there was a magnolia tree growing in the atrium that was in our bedroom. I fell in love with that tree and climbed up on the roof to reach the blooms to cut off and bring into the house. Since that house, we’ve planted a magnolia tree in every yard we’ve had. So, when we moved into this house we planted a magnolia tree out front. TWICE the Oklahoma wind broke my tree off, level with the ground. I never gave up on that tree. I was convinced the roots were good, so I fertilized and watered and the tree SUVIVED. I’m so proud of it. This is the third year for it to have blooms. There are two more blooms out there that I can find. I’ll take pictures tomorrow.

The birds keep me glued to the window! The male has been back to feed the female, and another female purple finch is coming to the feeder to eat. Lady Bird is hugging the nest tight; she’s nearly always there. We aren’t using that door. We can’t hear any chirps or see any little heads yet, so I must be off on my calculations. Time has got to be short; though.

God is good and we give Him thanks and glory; all we have is His and we are so pleased to have a part in it.

Busy Lady Bird!

I’m all a dither today about the birds. Don won’t let me look into the nest for fear that she will abandon it. He makes me tired being right all the time. I can’t see into the nest from the window and I can’t take a picture because of the glare from the glass. Today is the 13th day, though, so I’m expecting them to hatch. She is definitely very busy. She has been sitting there all day and instead of looking around like usual, she is doing something with her head in the nest. We can’t even see her head for the most part. Also one time we caught the male feeding the mother! That tells me that she won’t leave the nest for long enough to eat. So, something serious is happening out there. I’ve stood inside the door and listened for chirps, but don’t hear any. I guess I just have to be patient. Man, that’s hard to be!

The pictures on the blog are of a butterfly that became my little buddy at the ballpark yesterday. I forget what kind it is; I’ll have to do some research and see if I can identify it.

Nothing new is happening other than whatever is happening with the birds. We’re doing the same old stuff: cooking, cleaning, walking, etc. Life is good and God blesses us. I thank Him and you for looking in on us.

Happy Mothers Day!

Full day! Bruce’s team gave us another break by losing their first game, so we got to come home early. We would rather have stayed and watched them win to the end, but it wasn’t the day for that. They are a great team, but they just didn’t have it together for this tournament. I know they are learning a lot that will prepare them for life. Sometimes you do your best and it still doesn’t work like you want. Sometimes you don’t do your best and you have to live with that. All I know is that these boys are talented and they are learning a lot as they go. I’m proud of their parents for giving them this opportunity to play hard and compete. I’m proud to be a grandparent among their fans. On the blog today are 3 pictures of our Bruce pitching.

We were able to stop on the way home and get groceries, which was good. We were out of all the good salad makings and we don’t always have everything we need here. Spinach isn’t always so fresh by the time it gets to Hobart and we never get Kale. I forgot to get carrots, though, so I still have carrots to buy and clean tomorrow. I had to clean all the lettuce, kale, etc. when we got home. Plus I had to make Essiac Tea, so it can sit and be ready in the morning for tomorrow’s doses. Ick. I checked weather.com and decided it’s a good day to spray the weeds, too. Those rats; they’re trying to get ahead of me, but I’m not having it.

My Lady Bird is faithfully sitting on her eggs. By my calculations, I expect them to begin hatching this week; maybe tomorrow. I’ll be so excited!!! The best I can tell she’s still not touching the seed I put out for her. Go figure.

The bed is so calling me! God is good and He blesses us so; don’t forget to count the blessings and give Him thanks and glory! Thanks for caring to look in on us. Hope Mothers Day was wonderful for you!

Lose some, win some; we're due to win tomorrow!

We got our Vitamin D today! The games were good and the weather was perfect. The first game was hot, but the second one came with a little cloud cover and nice breezes, so it was a nice finish. We lost both games by 2 points, but they were both good. Today’s games were just seeding for tomorrow’s games, so tomorrow is when it really counts. I guess that’s how it is. We’ll see how it goes. Our guys are really talented, but they are playing other really talented boys, too.

I came with everything except the cord to download pictures, so I can’t put pictures on of what we did or saw today. It’s only exciting for us, anyway, so it won’t take so long to download today’s blog.

We had a safe trip here and we’re enjoying it; counting blessings and thanking God for rich, rich blessings.

Have a wonderful Mothers Day tomorrow!

Day to day in Hobart.

Today was a busy day getting ready to be gone for the weekend to another baseball tournament. Don mowed and nearly melted; it was plenty hot. He had trimmed earlier in the week, so he didn’t have too much to do. I’ve packed and got us ready to go.

Between getting ready to go we got in our walk and paced back and forth to the window to watch over miss Lady Bird. She has not touched the food the best we can tell, and neither has any other bird. We’re surprised. I figured I’d have to refill the feeder by now, but it’s still full. Go figure. She’ll get plenty of peace with us gone for the weekend. The birds might hatch Sunday or Monday if my research is right and if the eggs are still good.

On our walk this morning I took pictures for the blog. The walk around the lake is really pretty. The first shot is my favorite place on the walk, where the trees meet over the walking path. The next picture is of the ‘snow’ that we get this time of year. It’s the seeds from the cottonwood trees. You can see it on the ground, and if you click on the picture I think you’ll be able to see it hanging on the tree. It’s a mess, but kind of interesting. The last picture is of a couple of turtles sunning on a log in the lake. There were 3, but the one in the middle slid off when he heard us. We like to observe the turtles sunning all around the lake as we walk; they’re smart to get the Vitamin D! God provides!

I’m taking the computer with me and we should have access to the Internet, so I’ll intend to keep the blog up over the weekend. If you don’t see an update, don’t worry; it’ll just mean that I’m too tired or can’t connect or something. I’ll catch up when we get home if I get behind.

Thank you for caring about us! Enjoy your weekend and thank God for all our blessings!

90th birthday celebration!

Today seemed to fly past. Don’t they all, though? Today was my dear friend’s 90th birthday. She welcomed me to Hobart when we came as if I were her daughter. She loved Don’s dad and his family and just accepted me totally. She baked a birthday cake for his dad every single birthday. Bless her heart, she is failing to Alzheimer’s and is in the local nursing home. Her grandson called me Tuesday night and asked if I could be sure and get a birthday cake over to her that would be big enough to serve the whole nursing home because he had to be in Denver today. Bless his heart; he has his hands full with his family and career and lives 2 hours away, so I was really glad he called and let me help. I thank God that I didn’t have to BAKE the cake!!! She would have baked one and baked many for Boone. Anyway, a sweet girl at church bakes cakes and baked one for sweet Tommie. I picked it up this morning and took it over to her. Thank God that Don went with me. The cake was HUGE; I could never have done it by myself. Tommie was thrilled and was having a pretty good day. So many blessings to count!

My Lady Bird is very diligently sitting on the eggs. Nothing has changed on that front.

I spent the afternoon cutting off shorts and hemming them and making knee bands out of the cut off parts. Then tonight we watched Survivor and I made more lavender wands. Today I also made our reservations for the baseball tournament in Desoto, TX this weekend. That’s on the southeastern side of Dallas; we’ll be there for the 2:00 p.m. game.

Today’s picture is precious Tommie and her cake. Both her children and her husband preceded her in death. She has two grandsons and a granddaughter, but none of them live close, so it’s my pleasure to share her love. God blesses us again and again, and I thank Him.