Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Idea Book
Friday, October 19, 2007
Fall pictures
We are coming to the end of a great season of learning a few things from nature. We've experienced a swarm of migrating ruby throated hummingbirds, yep, these cute little birds fight, (one stayed a couple of days too long guarding his booty) we've watched plants shudder when we douse them with cold water, and we've learned a few botanical names. I also bricked over our old two step with some old world brick in anticipation of our old age. We are greatful for a full season. :) try adding text here again.....
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Fountain Wall
After talking with you, I have read your previous message, and I am re-thinking your idea of an Eola sized monument. You may still be able to create on this scale with a few small changes to your covered deck roof. Remember me talking of a pergola type roof?
You could do both. If you cut in a little to your covered porch in the fountain area it would open up the fountain area & not feel so confined and also let the heat out. The illusion of openness with it open to the sky is intriguing. Also tying your deck roof to the wall with the same pergola style rafters creates an even larger deck area & makes it a part of the house, which balances it with the house instead of letting it be a large stand alone structure.
This is only food for thought.....
http://tejasmidget.multiply.com/photos/photo/154/1
Also didn't hear you talk about your smoke chiminea? If you gave up that idea, a water fogger head (similar to a mister) can achieve a similar effect
You can take a look at this url:
http://www.atlanticfountains.com/catfiber.pdf Fiberglass bowls in many shapes. Of interest is the
rectangular pools with their respective sizes, perfect for your brick mason to build around.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Our terrarium project
Amazing things can come from an old potting shed. We call our cacti garden project an ice cream sandwich :)
From a Child's Eye
Sometimes it helps to take another perspective, a different approach. Here, in these photos, all except the three we took of her, taken by Kailani without coaching, we can see her view of a little part of her world. No matter if there is redundancy, what matters is what she thinks is important. These pictures are of her choosing.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
where's curtis?
Sunday, July 29, 2007
lost & found
after we dug up the verbena, we found these two kids under the flowers.
as we keep digging, we continue to discover new things.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Moving Day
We've been talking about this for a while, one long day and it's done.
Nobody can say we don't have our good share of junk either!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Verbena bites the dust
this is before it completely covered the wagon
the rambling pink verbena i started from a few roots took over and obscured my wagon. it was also making the front yard appear too crowded. solution? find it a new home. it's a woodsy plant so it should be happy down by the riverbank with a few of it's cousins.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Around the House
since spring started, here's a fresh look at what we've been up to. busting butt, really, southren style.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
landscapes
I moved all these rocks and this shrub to this container, twice.
I've been promising some pictures of our hard work so I won't put you off any longer. These types of landscaping projects are just about right for those of us of distinguished age. Whew! I better go in the house and get a tall glass of iced tea.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wedding Bells
Ronnie Reese & Francis Mullins
ties the knot till death do us part....again,
for the second time around for both of them.
They believe in a thousand deaths, or, somebody momentarily lost it.
Please don't say the old maid finally snagged another one.
The best part is, I now have a brother-in-law that is a new car salesman (go figure).
The preacher was very late and Kay went and found another one to fill in
on the spur of the moment.
Nobody can guess which parts of this description that I
completely invented or embellished, as is my customary way
with introductions. Their consolation, I volunteered to put together
a photo album with a few of the best pictures, no narrative included.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Our Nursery Outing
Our trip to the local nursery yielded many good finds. We tore up a lot of stuff and boy, was it HOT! Like a trip to the Amazon, we brought back many specimens, horn worms included, and are trying to propagate them in our own climate. I told Mama that she would have to come and see her plants in our gardens and she agreed. We are working hard to finally landscape our lawn and with a lot of help and Lotus' generosity, we are slowly making it a reality. I still intend to post those belated pictures when I have some spare time.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Landscape Gardner
Work, work, work. All we ever do is work around here.
I love to help my grandpa,
he shows me what to do.
He never says don't do that,
My grandpa's awfully cool.
Work, work, work. All we ever do is work around here.
I guess I'm pretty good at it,
he always tells me so,
I think he likes it just so much,
he hates for me to go.
Work, work, work. All we ever do is work around here.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Class of 2007
this is g'mas bouquet
Anthony Graduates High School
(well, almost. he has a few paces to complete before he gets his diploma)
Small and expensive Christian Academy has only three graduates this year. The expense has been worth it's burden to surround these boys with like-minded peers and teacher supervision unequaled in the local area public schools.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Mother's Day Garden
been begging for one of these trees
I been workin' it to get most of this done by today. With a lot of help from sis (you may catch a glimpse of a lotus blossom), as well as my doll, who always supports me, and helps out more than these pictures can ever show. These pictures show, in no particular order, some of the before & after progress that we have made over the last few weeks. Many things have been on the to-do list, such as Kay's new fence, new seals and porch for the kid's house, and taking out some of the crossties. More toiling to go.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
April Birthdays
Saturday, April 21, we celebrate Kailani's 3rd, and Mama's upcoming 81st birthdays with some of our family & friends.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
April
Think Blue. For Curt's room, I chose Sherwin Williams Refuge in a satin finish, the trim and ceiling is alabaster, semi-gloss, flat in that order. The crown (& pictures) comes later this coming weekend. The other stuff is just how I get from May to June.
Monday, April 16, 2007
searchingforthewrongeyedjesus
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Independent |
An image from "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus," which has been acquired by Shadow Distribution. Image provided by Shadow.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Spring in Clayton
the wagon is nearly obscured as we haven't had much opportunity to scramble about on it lately.
It is so good to have nice weather for a change, the extra hour of daylight is welcoming as well. The shrubbery and flowers are beginning to wake up from their deep slumber, and we are revitalized into projects taken off the back burner.
Monday, February 26, 2007
just pictures
when i told kailani this bear was smiling, she says it's happy cause it's at paw-paws!
xoxoxo :)
some moments in our lives make us smile, these are just a couple
Friday, February 23, 2007
searchingforthewrongeyedjesus
http://searchingforthewrongeyedjesus.com/#
This may be an interesting piece of film to watch if you can find it. Shot in Concordia Parish & the South, it has scenes of Ferriday UPC which the reviewer, http://hardcountry.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/divine-guerrilla-scrapping-a-review-of-searching-for-the-wrong-eyed-jesus/
states: I think when you watch you’ll find it worth it. I don’t know if I agree
with Jim White that it’s a spiritual experience. If it is I think he’ll
have to write a Scripture to go with it. And then somebody at the
United Pentecostal Church we visit in the film will be sure and burn it
as heresy.
Be sure and watch the trailer, the small quicktime loads pretty fast. http://searchingforthewrongeyedjesus.com/ . Lotus you may see Bubba Drane showing off his shooting skills in the short trailer, it sure looks like him to me.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Trash to Treasure
what began life as rooftop adornments, http://tejasmidget.multiply.com/photos/album/130 , begins it's new journey as a garden fountain, maybe it will last another 100 years.
Always willing to turn scrap into something useful, this trash will be added to my gardenscape that is slowly evolving in my minds eye.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Christmas 2006
This
season has come and gone leaving us with warm thoughts and good memories. We
had a more modest holiday this year, as I decided beforehand not to overindulge
in spending. I went shopping for my wife only, and left the rest to her, she
does a much better job of it than I do with my once a year binge shopping
sprees.
I
purchased one of Dave Ramsey’s packages for my oldest son, which consisted of a
book and a couple of videos to try and show him some of the better ways to
handle his money, something which I so obviously failed to teach him as he was
growing up. It’s the American way, debt, promissory notes, and credit cards.
It’s a mistake that I truly regret as I see him follow in my footsteps,
borrowing to obtain the things he wants now, and little or no savings. When I
talk to him about how we have to pay over time for what we are getting on
credit anyway, only triple or quadruple the price for the added interest, sort
of like a backward savings account, he understands that it would just be wiser
to save up the money for the purchase.
I
bought myself a pair of work boots to replace the two-year-old ones that were
beginning to let the water in. Funny how you only notice when it’s wintertime.
All of the items I purchased this year were bought with cash, as I was blessed with monetary gifts this year from three different people. I did buy gift envelopes
though, and gave most of the money away in lieu of extravagant gifts to my
immediate family members. This coupled with their smaller, more humble, presents
that their Mama bought them seemed more appropriate than my usual way of doing
things. She is so much better at getting them what they need instead of
what may be a passing fancy.
Say
what you want about monetary gifts being the lazy persons way of avoiding
having to put thought, effort, and time into gift buying, I battled internally
with my own thoughts about gift giving, and the fact that I had already
verbally communicated the need to having a frugal, scaled down Christmas. I
struggled with the idea of putting the cash toward my goal of savings and
getting out of debt, but the words kept coming back to haunt me, “Give, and
it shall be given unto you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over”.
So, I gave freely, with no stipulations on how they should use it. Mind you, I
put these money gifts under the tree, and I put bows on them, and I included them in
the gift packages that they already had, and then I took them out. I removed
the fancy bows, and I put them away. Not wanting this to be a part of
Christmas, or to take anything away from the customary gift exchange on
Christmas Eve, I gave them these gifts the next day, almost failing to give my
beautiful wife her envelope on Christmas day as it was almost midnight when I
handed it to her. Seems to me that there was a lot of thought and work going
into this. I’m not saying this is the best way, nor is it for everyone, but it
certainly relieved some of the pressure off of my family, as my oldest had
already expressed his desire to scale back this year on buying so many gifts,
and I echoed his protest, and fully intended to follow through with our
commitment to a smaller, simpler, and yes, cheaper, way of doing things.
The
actions that I took this year were reciprocal, and I relaxed in the knowledge
that poor people were not struggling to buy me several things, which they
really could not afford. I did not do the usual gift opening at the in-laws,
which requires pretty faces, and awkward hugs for sometimes novelty items that
are mostly useless, or hearty thanks for clothing that would fit Sasquatch.
They did send two gifts for me, both of which I’m wearing.
Kay
cooked a wonderful Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. My oldest and his
family came over and we enjoyed the opening of a few gifts for his babies, and
one each between us. My Mama was here,
and my benevolent sister Lotus, and in addition to her other gifts, she brought
us some really nice curtains which flatter my office much more than the ones
that I already had, but she had to stay late to sew some modifications on the
back to fit the curtain rod. With Lydia’s help from a well timed phone call,
the sewing machine that we thought was useless all these years was fixed
(another impulse buy), that was her gift to us, and the curtains are up, and
nice, if I may say so myself. There are no pictures this year, as I took a
total turnaround from the usual, and decided to forego the amateur photography
and backside profiles of gift giving, so, you folks have something to be
thankful for also.
We
have much to be thankful for, and we are blessed to have family that we love,
and we know what the true meaning of traditional Christmas is, it is about
caring. This is our Christmas.
May
God bless you all with a healthy and prosperous new year.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
what is, isn't
only old shot i could find on my hard drive.
remember these urns? they used to sit atop the Eola Hotel for the last 80 years or so. until today. we chopped them down like trees because they were deteriorating so badly they were becoming a hazard. contractors bid for removal; $3,500. our bid; sledgehammers and five gallon buckets. taking down six foot tall 1,500 lb urns on the coldest day we've had so far? priceless. i saved these pieces for i-don't-know-what-yet. sorry folks for no demolition pictures, i was out on a ledge. :o)
Sunday, December 03, 2006
weekend warrior
this revamped valance and crown shelf for what-nots will make chas bashful about his. he will now have to start all over with his entire kitchen.
always looking for something to do, ♪♫♪♫ baby, it's cold outside ♪♫♪♫
Saturday, November 18, 2006
second chance bar stools
These are the bar stools that Lotus brought to me and I am finally getting around to cleaning them up.
A little elbow grease, a wire brush, and some paint leftovers, make the total cost of this little jibby $0.
Lucky for me, I have $0. These are probably from an old Diner, a bit of nostalgia from the past.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Shabby Chic
no, it's just a shabby sheet. we all remember a few doors like this when we were younger.
Sis comes over to do the faux marble effect on the wall board. The images do not really show how well it turned out, it is just what I was hoping for and Kay is pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it is.. Of course, we have done our best to drag out this simple bathroom makeover by painting the cabinets in the wrong color and other practice stuff.We are almost ready for a few accessories like window treatment and maybe an added shower curtain.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
bath do-do over
we seem to be having a bit of difficulty coming up with a color scheme that suits us. probably due to not buying any new paint and trying to make do with unused paints we have left over. you might even see a rusty paint can lid or two. told ya i've been planning this a while.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
DIY
just a hint of things to come
Another home improvement project best left to the pros, of course, that only means we will tackle it. As usual, I recommend this type of project to all my friends, just for the fun of it. The careful layout and intricate cuts was mostly due to the fact that this tile was discontinued and no longer available. I have one antique beige tile left over.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
forward; forward; forward
If you have friends & family that communicate via e-mail, inevitably, you are going to end up on the forward; forward; forward list. Every once in a while, if you bother reading them at all, one comes along worth sharing. So, here is my entry that I thought I would pass along. If, like me, you found one you would share but don't want on the forward; forward; forward list, feel free to post it here. it's not going anywhere....maybe.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
pitter patter
what makes our hearts glow, what brings sunshine to our mornings. after the reunion, these two bitty girls came to see us and made us smile. for a moment, there are no worrys, there are no problems, when you know the wonder of these precious gifts.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Reunion 2006
a small family and extended family gathering that seems to get smaller every year or it just seems that way to those of us that grew up on reunions. we were totally bored with them as teenagers but as we've have gotten older have realised the significance of families gathering together to show their solidarity and share some of our common interests. the newest additions to the family clan are especially welcomed, we have new babies that we love to meet and adopt into our club, and hope the best for them and many years of life and their own reunions to come.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Family Tradition
A noble tradition probably born of necessity that I hadn't experienced until I became a part of Kay's extended family. As a last labor of love and respect, the male family members dig the final resting place and build a wooden vault to place the casket in. Immediately following the services, the grave is covered over, all work is done by hand. This grave was especially difficult and took them eight hours to dig due to the long dry spell that we have been having. The heavy clay soil located in the hills of Sicily Island was compacted and took pick axes to penetrate. Personally, I have only had to assist with one grave digging for Kay's younger brother who passed away when Darrell was seven.
Monday, July 31, 2006
PRIMITIVE
cave & rock drawings
We have figured out that the cave & rock drawings found around the world that has perplexed mankind for centuries is nothing more than child's art.
Here, as evidence, is a drawing involving many legends and myths. It appears to tell us the story of a great fishing expedition, with a catch so big as to need multiple casts, only the disturbance has conjured up an even greater beast from the deep that is going to swallow up both man and his great fish. We call this mammoth whale....Jonah. (You may notice that the mans head is covered, prehaps as a symbol of protection).
Tale as told by gramps, an old fart, and illustrated by cody to befuddle the wise.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
hospice care
staying warm plays a big part in healing injuries
convalescing after a bail from a collapsing scaffold incident, i too have personal care to help nurse me back to health.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
GB rally
Monday, June 26, 2006
H.O.G. Rally 2006
Nathchez was chosen for the first time as a destination for one of the annual runs for the Missippi Chapter of the Harley Owners Group. H.O.G.
There were lots of handsone guys and gals from their 20's to 60's, maybe 70's. Lots of smiles and friendly people here visiting the Eola and I took this oportunity to capture just a few of the many friendly faces and very nice bikes that brought them here. It was estimated to be around 1,200 bikes here and these are only a small representation of them. We hope they will return again for next years annual run.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
poor boy vacation
vacation pay?i am re-thinking what it means to have a "paid vacation". i think it's a misnomer to call it a paid vacation unless there is an additional vacation paycheck, to take an actual vacation. otherwise, it is just a few days off with your usual pay which has to be used for your regular stuff (which doesn't take a break).