Summer has arrived

We have been very hot and humid for the last few days. Last week was really nice. We had about 8 inches of rain early in the week and then it was cloudy and cooler most of the week. Mom was here and it was really nice to sit out side in the morning and in the evenings. But this week after all that rain the mosquitoes are awful. They are not bothered by the heat even in the middle of the day.
All that rain was really good for the garden. We ate all the radishes and I got more planted. The tomatoes and squash are blooming. We are going to have plenty of onions too. Everything else is growing.
Mother was here for a visit and we mostly stayed home. She wanted to go into Houston to the Galleria but after all the rain we decided not to go this trip. They had major flooding in Houston.
Mom enjoyed playing with Morgan and we quilted on Laci's quilt. We did get it finished and got Daryl's quilt up. We really enjoyed the sewing room. There is plenty of room for the quilt frame and still room for Morgan to play. I am gradually getting all my craft stuff organized and put on the shelves. Mom helped me get the wall paper border up. We came up short about 6 feet so I had to order more. Glad we just stapled it up to see what it looked like. Will get it up permanently soon.
Johnny is finishing up the school year. Lots of paper work in special ed to get done at the end of the year. He will find out which school he will be assigned to next week. He has removed the porches and covers from Ethyl's trailer and got the carport moved also. They are getting ready to haul off her trailer house that was damaged during Hurricane Ike. She has moved into an assisted living home in Cleveland. We will have a lot of cleaning up to do when they finally get it moved.
We went to the panhandle for Rebecca and Phil's wedding. It was very nice. Justin was there and we got to visit with him. We stayed in Memphis with Dolores and had a really good visit with her. We enjoyed visiting with Phil's family who came from England.
Daryl and his whole family were over for dinner on Sunday for Johnny's birthday. We cooked ribs and burgers and had birthday cake. Johnny, Daryl, and James tried out Johnny's new fishing rod and reel. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
I hope to get the swimming pool up and running in the next few weeks. I am ready for a swim!

April is here

I am so ready for spring. We have had so much wind. We have been busy with Sandra and the boys. They are so much fun. Clay loves to help in the yard with his tractor. With all the wind we have plenty of branches to pick up. Spencer loves to be outside. We spend a lot of time on the porch swing when the wind isn't blowing. Morgan is learning to share and take up for herself with Clay and Spencer. She is saying a few more words too. Sandra is working with her about please and thank you.
We also got most of the garden planted. We have crowder, black eye and zipper peas, corn, green beans, broccoli, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, onions and radishes. We have had enough rain lately that most everything is up. We need some warm weather and no wind. Our biggest peach tree is loaded. We had to knock a few small ones off. The small peach tree is blooming so maybe it will have a few peaches. The lemon trees are blooming too.
Johnny and I worked in the new room this weekend and put down the base boards. I have a little painting touch up to do and put up the wallpaper border and it will be finished on the inside. I can hardly wait to get the furniture set up. I have already put up a quilt in the frame so I can get busy.
Johnny is really ready for school to be out. He says the kids are too. Just a couple of more months. He wants to work on the outside of the new room this coming weekend so we can at least get the west end painted. It has been a long process but we can see the light at the end now. I could never stand the stress of building a whole house. This was quite a learning experience for me.
We celebrated Morgan's second birthday on the 16th. She is really growing. All the grand kids were her and had ice cream cake for Morgan's birthday. We got her a high chair for her doll. She like to make her something to eat and feed her. Spencer started walking and has five teeth. He thinks that he must have some one in the room with him at all times. He like to annoy Morgan by touching her with one finger. You would think he was five years old instead of nearly one.
We are planning to go to Rebecca and Phil's wedding the week after Easter. We are also going on an Alaskan cruise with Mom and her friend Mary. I am looking forward to it. I am not so sure about Johnny.
Must get busy there is always something to do.

New room is finally coming together

We have been really, really busy during spring break. Sandra had to go to Houston so we had the boys for a couple of days. They always keep us busy. Sandra took them two days to the stock show so we had time to work on the new room. We bought enough flooring to redo the kitchen floor so we jumped in and did it in two days. We had to take the sub floor out so it took a little more effort. Thanks to John we got the sub floor up pretty easy. Then we laid the new sub floor and added the vinyl. I absolutely love it! It looks like oak wood. It will be so much easier to keep.
We started on the floor in the new room. It is the same as the kitchen. It is going to be so pretty. We got about half of it done on Sat. I have the window trim already painted so it is ready to go up.
We also got the garden put in on Saturday morning. We have 10 tomato plants, two kinds of squash, cucumbers, corn, two kinds of peas, broccoli, peppers, onions and radishes. I hope to get green beans in this week.
Johnny is putting up a new outdoor light on the east side of the house. He almost has that done. I got the front yard mowed and need to get the back yard mowed. This time of year there is always something to do.

Spring is on the way.

We are getting ready to spring forward tonite with the clocks. I am so ready for spring. I have started on the garden. I got 3 bunches of onions and radishes planted a couple of weeks ago. They are really looking nice. I started jalepeno pepper plants, cucumbers, squash and birdhouse gourds from seed. They are starting to make green leaves. Johnny got the tiller out today and we got the garden bed tilled. I hope to get the tomatoes in soon. We really need some rain. I have a few flowers blooming, the 2 year old azaleas are really pretty. The roses are doing good too.
Sandra and the boys arrived the middle of February and they have been keeping us busy. Morgan has enjoyed playing with Clay and Spencer. She wants to hold Spencer but he is nearly as big as she is. He is crawling everywhere and pulling up. I am sure he will be walking soon. Clay brought his John Deere tractor and he has been helping around the yard. He is so cute. Sandra went to Dallas for an Advocare seminar for one weekend and we kept the boys. It was the first time she had left Spencer. We had a fun weekend. Then they have been gone for a week to San Diego to see Rebecca, Phil and Macy. They will be back on the 9th.
I worked this week really hard on the new room. I got the ceiling finished except for touchups and got the walls primed and painted! I am so excited to get the color on the walls. I really like it. It is an orchid purple. It reminds me of a colored easter egg. Next big project is to get the floor down and the trim on the windows and door. Johnny surprised me by putting up a screen door so now I can leave the door open and enjoy the outdoors while I am working. It is finally coming together. We will be trying to paint the outside and get the rest of the shingles on the house during spring break.
Talked to mom and she is planning on coming for a visit the first of April. I am looking forward to her visit.

February 2009

I just returned from a 10 day trip to Roswell to see Mom. I took Morgan with me and we flew from Houston to Dallas and Dallas to Roswell. We had a great time and enjoyed visiting with Mom. Morgan is a great traveler. We got to see a few sights in Roswell and helped mother go through Bill's den. Bill's hobby was recording cassette tapes and videos. I have never seen so many things. We probably boxed up a thousand cassette tapes and nearly 500 videos. Johnny and I plan to go back this summer and work on his book collection.
Johnny, Daryl and Kelley were having Morgan withdrawal cause we were gone 10 days. They are about to get caught up now.
John had to have five stitches in his foot last week. Got a ROTC rifle dropped on his tennis shoe. He also got rear ended at a stop light. He really did not have a good week. James is playing basketball and will start baseball soon. So he is really busy.
We sold our last two calves before I left. So we are waiting on our next group this spring. I am thinking about the garden. Hope to get it ready to plant by the end of the month.
Sandra and the boys are coming and they are going to see Rebecca and Phil. Then it will be time for Houston Stock show.
I got the ceiling in the new room almost ready for paint, hope to get it done this week. Then I will be ready to paint wall and get the flooring in. Johnny has the front new part painted and is working on the west end to get it ready to paint.
I have two quilt tops ready to quilt so that will be by next big project.
I will be busy this month with grandkids, quilting, painting and gardening.

Happy New Year

2008 is over and a fresh new year begins. Since I met Johnny each year gets better and better. This coming year we will finish the new room and I will get to set up my sewing and crafting and be able to leave it out and have my very own space.
We are also planning on going to Mom's and help her clean out and dispers all of Bill's books. She is doing ok since Bill's death just before Christmas. She has friends in Roswell to help her adjust.
This past year was filled with good memories.
Rebecca received her PhD. and moved to San Diego. She and Phil married in April. She took a job with Sapphire Energy and seems to be loving it.
Sandra's Spencer arrived in May as we added to our family. He is number 5 grandchild. 4 boys and 1 one girl. Clay is growing and learning to be a big brother. He is so aware of everything that goes on. He talks like a grown up.
Johnny started the new sewing room for me. The garden was very prolific. I had all of the cucumbers, tomatoes and squash that we could eat. We pulled everything up except the cucumbers before we left on vacation at the end of July. I had cucumbers until the hurricane in September.
We took a wonderful vacation, with great friends, Carl and Lynda. We spent two weeks at Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons National Park. Everyone should see these places. The Tetons were great. I would like to go back there some day.
I get to keep Morgan every day during school and she is such a joy. She keeps me on my toes and is such a good little girl. We see James and John often. They are busy with school activities most of the time.
We survived hurricane Ike. This was a total new experience for me. We were without electricity for a week. Looking back it was more stressful than I realized at the time.
Our cattle "herd" grew buy 4. My heifer Coalie had her first calf and all the other cows had babies too.
We had a great Thanksgiving with Sandra, Clay and Spencer. Rebecca, Phil and Macy came for Christmas.
I am living a dream I never thought possible. Johnny spoiles me rotten and having family close by is really wonderful.

December in Splendora

We had a great Thanksgiving. Sandra, Clay and Spencer were here for two weeks. The boys are a hand full. Clay is just at the right age to enjoy Christmas this year. Spencer is really growing and he started sitting alone and scooting on his belly to get where he wanted to go. Morgan enjoyed playing with them although she was sick most of the week of Thanksgiving.
We had Christmas with Clay and Spencer on Thanksgiving night since we won't get to see them until January. Daryl, Kelley, John, James and Morgan came over and it was a lot of fun to watch the little ones open their packages. Clay got a tool set that he was really proud of and Morgan got a doll bed.
Sandra and the boys left on the Wed after thanksgiving. Johnny and I rested most of the next week. I know why God gives you children when you are young.
Johnny is in the process of building the west fence. He is putting in posts and barbed wire along with the electric wire. It is the last piece of fence he lacks and then the whole place will have good outside fence. He has reset some more posts around for future fencing projects. He also got the martin houses put up so maybe we will attract so martin's this spring.
We had a cold front come thru on Wed. Dec. 10. It was very cold and wet. I went to buy groceries that day and about noon I saw a thermometer that said it was 32 degrees. I hurried home so I would not have to drive on frozen roads. About dark it started sleeting and by 7 it was snowing. We go nearly two inches. It is a rare thing for this part of Texas to get snow. Johnny kept going to the door and watching it. I was wrapped up trying to stay warm. I still don't like the cold. I lived in the Panhandle all my life and I don't miss the wet and cold weather. The snow was gone by mid morning on Thursday but it was still very chilly and windy. Today, Friday is supposed to be warmer so Morgan and I plan to get outside and pick up limbs.
Clay and Sandra helped me get the Christmas decorating out and up. I have most of my packages wrapped and under the tree. Now I just need to get busy in the kitchen.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Post Script: We set the live trap the night before Thanksgiving. Something had been getting in the trash. On Thanksgiving morning we checked the trap and we caught a possum. Clay was really interested in looking it over. I told him we would have possum stew for Thanksgiving. When we got ready to eat I showed him the giblet gravy and told him it was possum stew. He tasted the gravy but none of the chunks of meat. He wasn't very impress with Gigi's possum stew.