Favorite Spot, at Night

Mike and I like to take rides, and Northport is one of our favorite destinations. Here are some night shots of the gazebo and the dock.

It's hard to tell, but in the second picture, that structure with the white posts is at the end of a long dock. When the nicer weather comes I will take some day or early evening pictures.

Home Repair

The cap blew off the chimney recently during a pretty strong wind. We are having big rain tomorrow so Mike went up there to put it back on. Jamie carried the ladder from the garage and held it for him.

Hard to believe by that gorgeous blue sky that it's going to storm tomorrow.

Shadow

Another cute picture of my dog.

The Big Kids Visit

Michael and Katherine came by today to enjoy Mike's delicious Sunday sauce.

We are watching "Jaws" today. Katherine's doing her nails. A nice, relaxing Sunday.

Almost spring

Well, okay, it's a month away. And the crazy wind outside today makes it seem colder than it really is. But the sun was shining, and Mike has already started with yard work!

And it really hasn't been much of a 'winter,' anyway.

Belated Thursday, and today

Two pics, since I forgot to post one yesterday. This is the dress I'm making for my friend Virginia's son's wedding. It is March 10th, which gives me just about 2 weeks to get this done. I've already made a 'muslin' so I know it fits, so it should go together pretty easily.

 

Thursday, pinning. 

Friday, starting to sew.

Handsome in a tie

My gorgeous husband.

He's amused at me taking pictures every day.

In my Backyard

This is a tree that has probably been dead longer than we've lived in the house, or close to it. Someone years ago saw fit to cut it down to a log, and eventually (about a year ago) it gave up the ghost for good. Luckily, another tree was conveniently there to 'catch' it, and there it stays. Even last summer's hurricane didn't move it.

I don't think the live tree is all that healthy, either. There's too much bramble and junk back there. Mike and the kids tore out tons of stuff a few years back, and it's still a mess. If I had my way, I'd have it all cut down and start fresh. Someone who lived here before us actually tried to start a small vineyard, and I'm still pulling out grape vines every spring and summer--with no grapes. This isn't such a great yard for edibles. There are also fig trees without figs. Sad. I hope the original planters had some luck with them.

My Ferret, Rocky

It is almost impossible to get a photo of a ferret, since they don't like to stand still very long. And my camera is temperamental. Sometimes it doesn't take the picture fast enough. But I chased Rocky around and finally got a pretty decent shot of him. He is the last ferret I will probably ever have, at least for a long time. I don't even know how old he is, maybe four or five? He is a funny guy who is the only 'escape artist' I've ever had. I have to tie his cage shut to keep him inside. He also likes to steal pens.

Jamie

I'm cheating on today's photo since someone else took it, but Jamie looks so cute here I can't resist posting this photo.

Melody

My cat Melody loves to sit in baskets. Here she is in my crochet basket, which she took over after I emptied it out looking for a yarn needle.

Another picture of Shadow

Just because he's cute.

Today I went to the pain doctor for this weird test where they check out how your nerves are working. Most of it was okay, but a few of the 'shocks' (they stimulate the muscles electrically) were annoying. The only really, really bad part was getting needles in my feet. Ouch. In two weeks, I go back and we talk about what she found.

Shadow watches TV

I was watching Animal Cops Houston this morning. Shadow perked up when he heard some dogs on TV! I wonder if he thinks they are just beyond a 'window'?

Shadow has this to say to anyone who is mean to a fellow animal:

GRRRRRRR!!!!!!

Games

One of my favorite hobbies is playing card and puzzle games. I also like to sew, so a solitaire game involving fashion is just my speed. Here's a dress I made up for Valentine's Day.

I probably would have worn something like this back in the day, maybe with smaller hearts on the dress, though. And I never had red hair with braids.

Happy Valentine's Day

I still have a cold, but waking up to a nice card and a box of dark chocolates makes it a nice Valentine's Day:

Mike always writes nice things inside the card. This time he told me how much he likes our Friday and Saturday nights together. We always go out, but never anyplace fancy. It's just my speed and I really like those nights, too!

Sick today

I have a cold, and my energy level is about zip. Today's picture is just some more of my Valentine's decor:

Okay,  it isn't much of a display. The dogs are up most of the year. The sleeping hound used to sit next to my father's chair in the house where I grew up. I bought the salt shakers 'cause the dark chihuahua looks like Shadow. The card in the back is from the early 80s, a picture of Michael and Katherine sent to one of their grandmothers. I've been scanning photos and came across it, so now it's out for display.

Winter Barbecue

Mike had picked up some nice ribeyes last week  (on sale) so we had them today, despite the fact it is 28 degrees outside. It even started snowing partway through cooking. The steaks, of course, were out of this world. I made a macaroni salad to go with them. Michael came over as he usually does on Sunday, and we played a round of cribbage. Michael won this time around.

(No snow yet, but there will be!)

Valentine Shelves

I decorate for every  holiday we celebrate. There are hearts and other red things all over my house. Here are the top two shelves of the hutch in my dining room:

The kids gave me flowers in the pink vase a number of years ago. The beagle is a gift from my mom that I've had for a long time. And the gumball machine (which is real, not a plastic one) is something I treated myself to with birthday money! As you can see, it is just about empty. I really like chewing gum, a very bad habit! Then again, it keeps me from snacking all day long and is helpful (I believe) on my diet. By the way, I'm at just about 18 pounds of weight loss since I started!

Six Squirrels

Today there were six squirrels in my backyard. Most of them ran away when I went out to give them peanuts, but after a while they started coming back. They even let me take pictures.

 I know I take too many pictures of squirrels, but I love these little guys!

Thursday

Another Thursday, another post about something I like. Here is my mixer:

I like it because:

It was a gift from Mike and the kids.
It has a bunch of cool attachments (also gifts!).
It is a workhorse that makes it really easy to make things.
It's a  kitchen toy and I love kitchen toys.

Today or tomorrow, I'm hoping to make chocolate chip cookies! I already have the dry ingredients mixed. I just need to get eggs and butter. Not a bad idea to pick them up anyway since we might have snow this weekend. I'll believe that when I see it.

Company Gift

Mike has been working for the same company for 25 years now, and they gave him this bowl as a gift. It is from Tiffany's and weighs a ton, so it's probably worth something. But even if it isn't, it's very pretty! 

Old Doll

This doll was given to my mother-in-law by my father-in-law when they were first married in 1952, as  Valentine's Day gift. Mom and Dad P are gone now, but I have some little things (besides photos) to remember them by. I have this doll out as part of a Valentine's display, which I will show in a future post. 

My Fur Babies

This is why I can't make my bed first thing in the morning. Mike says it looks like a petting zoo.

The bed does get made, just not in the early morning! (Shadow is usually buried under the covers. For some reason, he likes Mike's side of the bed!)

Winter Rainbow

I was very surprised to see a rainbow in the sky! Actually, just part of one, but still very pretty.

In Bloom

Beautiful things are worth the wait...

 My amaryllis finally bloomed! (And there are still 2 buds to go!)

This thing is so big I had to tie up the leaves. But it sure is a beautiful thing, and a great color for the month with Valentine's Day!

Lunch

I used up the last half of a loaf of bread and made some grilled cheese sandwiches for me and the boys. We'll have it with tomato soup later. In the meantime, I put the sandwiches back into the bread bag and into the fridge--without butter yet.
Since I'm trying to lose weight I only put one slice of cheese on my sandwich instead of the usual two. So I can figure out which one is mine later, I pressed a little kitty-cat face into it. I used a little thing that is meant for putting salad dressing into a Bento lunch box.
I also have beef cooking in beef broth, to be mixed with tomatoes and vegetables a little later for vegetable soup. Jamie will probably eat that before he goes to work today.

Thursday

It's going to take some effort to come up with 366 photos, so I'm going to go with a theme on Thursdays: "Things I Like." (I was going to call it "Thursday Things that Thrill Me," but that is just too much alliteration!) Here is my Keurig and my carousel:

 I like them because:

I'm a coffee and hot cocoa freak.

They are red.

They look snazzy.

The carousel spins.

But I mostly like them because:

 Mike and the kids gave them to me!

PS--I also like my strawberry cookie jar, a gift from my mom!

Mild Winter (so far!)

Not sure if Phil will see his shadow tomorrow, but the whole 'six more weeks of winter' thing seems a bit 'moot' at this point. We've barely had any snow, and (as you can see in the photo below) things are starting to sprout already! I hate winter, I hate snow, but I still expect at least some of it between December and March. It just doesn't seem 'right' that it's warm enough to walk outside when there are still (by the calendar, not by Phil) roughly 50 days of winter left. Famous last words...maybe we'll get 30 inches next week.