Spring At Last!!!!......

It's Spring at last. The grass is growing, the flowers are blooming and the weather is great. It's nice to work in the yard and see all the new growth. The Amaryllis are blooming like crazy. These stripped ones are called "Candycane"

These red ones were given to us by our friend, Brenda Spivey, and they have been wonderful bloomers. I put most of them around the deck. I just wish they would bloom all year long.

Cindy and Marion gave me this herb and upside-down tomato planter for my birthday. I think I need to move the squash into the ground, though it seems very happy where it is. I think I see a red tomato peeking out. They should be ready for picking any day now.

This is a Snake Cactus we purchased during one of our trips to the Volusia County Flea Market. You can find some really nice plants there at really reasonable prices.

These Delphinium are just beautiful in various shades of blue and purple, my favorite colors. They are starting to decline now, but I can look forward to see what I get next year.

We purchased two new Desert Rose plants since we lost two of ours to this year's freeze. I hope we can keep these safe. Even our Mums are coming back from last Fall.

I added some purple Lobelia to some of my hanging pots and throughout the gardens. It's a ground cover, but works well in pots too. They are profuse bloomers. I just love the colors.
These Amaryllis were wintered in the pot. Left overs from Christmas. Aren't they beautiful?I love to buy new and unusual plants and have decided to try my hand a succulents. They are hardy and require less care, especially watering. This is a very nice one I found at the DeBary Farmer's Market last weekend, can't remember the name, but I just love the blooms. I need to find a stand for it since the leaves hang so long. Right now an upside-down pot will have to do.This cactus came from the same seller at the farmer's market. She has some really nice plants. I think it's a type of Burro's Tail cactus. It's sitting on one of our patio tables. It looks like it's about ready for a new pot. I believe it produces pretty pink blooms. Can't wait to see them.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

We had a very quiet Easter at home this year. John gave me a beautiful plant (Daffodil) and took me out for a nice breakfast. Though Sherry and Keith couldn't work us into their busy schedule for Easter, we had them over for an Easter dinner the Tuesday after Easter. I prepared a nice ham with a Praline Mustard glaze, which was also on a block of creme cheese with crackers for dipping, pork gravy, potatoes Au Gratin, garlic green beans, cold corn salad and a chocolate fudge Easter Bunny cake. Afterwards we enjoyed sitting on the dock and visiting with friends while watching little Reno swim in the lake. Tom fed the geese some bread which Reno also swam after when he wasn't going for the ball. All in all it was a very nice day with the family. The twins will be thirteen on May 12th. They are growing up just too fast.

John's New Toy....

Today John's truck was delivered from Alabama. It's a 2004 F-250 Super Duty, Turbo Diesel, 4x4. Don't know why he thought he needed such a big truck. This bad boy won't fit in the garage so I guess John's next project is building a truck garage. JoDee found the truck in Alabama. It was one of their repos. Seems that there are a lot of them out there. The former owner, from what we were told, put almost $25,000 in upgrades and extras on this truck. Anyway, I hope that John gets a lot of enjoyment out of his new toy. I almost busted my butt getting out of that thing. Didn't know it was so far to the ground. I'm getting a ladder. LOL

Mom Moves In.....

Mom has moved in with us as of February 1, 2010. We gave her the twins old bedroom and our spare bedroom to use as her living room and bedroom. She also has the spare bathroom all to herself and has space in the Summer kitchen on the patio. She shares our kitchen and dining room. It's smaller than what she had at her apartment, but it's really all she needs and she says that she's comfortable. We had a new glass door enclosure put in the shower for her so she gets plenty of light. It's one of those frameless shower doors and looks really nice. We still need to make a picture wall for her, perhaps in her bedroom. Mom's spends most of her time watching her favorite cable TV show and working on her hand work. Right now she's working on a quilt. I can't wait to see the finished product, but I don't want to rush her since it gives her something to do to past the time. She also enjoys sitting out on the deck, eating ice cream and watching the birds, ducks and geese, as well as our beautiful sunsets. We go out to lunch or dinner weekly and I try to take her shopping, although she does get tired and wants to stop and sit while I shop. Her drive to her favorite store, Walmart, is short since she's now only a mile away. This week we washed and detailed her car for her. She keeps it in our garage since John's new truck is too big to fit in it. It's good to have her with us, especially since she gets confused sometimes about taking her meds. I made her a list so she can check it off when she takes her pills. I think that she's doing great for 85 years.

Car in the lake.....

Looked out at the lake this afternoon to see a car cruising along IN THE WATER!!!! The driver was kind enough to come close enough for me to take some pictures. It was just the coolest thing. It appears to be an Amphicar 700 built in West Germany circa 1961-1969. Google amphibious car or amphicar 700 for more information. Our neighbor was in the front passenger seat. The driver/owner had just come by to try it out in the lake. No telling what you might see on our lake these days.

Kitchen tile....

Finally got around to putting tile up in the kitchen. Also did the wall under the bar since it always seemed scuffed with shoe marks. Went with a neutral stone tile with a few accent tiles. Thinking about painting the office next since we have some time before the new office furniture (see below) arrives. It's always something.

Blue Christmas Tree

This year's Christmas tree was done in blue and silver. Though it's a small tree, only 6-7 feet tall, we think it turned out rather nice. We put some nice red Poinsettia plants on the deck and John added some tube lights around some of the posts. The Mums from Thanksgiving are mostly spent and will be put into the ground soon. I've had a hard time getting into decorating and have put off shopping until the last two weeks before Christmas. Still don't know what to get for John. He seems to be doing his own shopping. Just tonight he brought home a new cell phone, one of my ideas for a gift for him. Check that off the list.

Dog show.....

Went to dog shows at the Orange County Fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday. I decorated the dog stroller for Christmas and had a lot of people stopping me so they could snap pictures, mostly with their cell phones. Saturday John went with us, but on Sunday we were on our own. John was Snipe hunting with his friend Loo. Yes, Snipe is a real bird.

Cheerleaders and Pack O' Papillons

This morning we went to the Orange County Convention Center to watch Kierstin and her cheer leading team, the Lake Mary All Stars, compete. It was fun watching them perform. Kierstin has improved so much over the years and looked wonderful in the new uniform. After we returned home we decided to go to Lowe's. After some begging by the pack we were convinced to take them with us. Needless to say the paps drew a lot of attention. Who wouldn't chuckle at the sight of five Papillons riding in a shopping cart. I couldn't resist snapping some pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving to all......

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with tons of food. It was a nice cool day so everyone could enjoy being out on the new deck. And it was cool enough to enjoy some hot coffee after a delicious meal. We had two turkeys, one roasted, compliments of Cindy and Marion, and one fried, compliments of Robert. Also Breanne and Mark provided a nice ham. The side dishes included, broccoli casserole, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, rutabaga, green beans, deviled eggs, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy and brussel sprouts. The desserts included pumpkin squares, pecan pie, apple pie, key lime pie and chocolate pie. The guests were Sherry, Keith, Kierstin & Haley; Grace (Mema), Tom, Breanne, Mark, Paul, Kevin, Cindy, Marion, Robert, Mary Beth, Austin, Windy, John and me. After dinner the girls gathered to plan their shopping route for Black Friday. Every one went home with a full belly and some left overs. Now for a good nap! The Papillon pack enjoyed the day and especially enjoyed their nap afterwards.

Dog sitting Tiger and Dubi....

We are dog sitting two Papillon boys for the Andersons, for two weeks while they are on vacation in Hawaii. Dubi is the 1.5 yr. old sable and white and Tiger is the 5 yr. old tri color. Tiger reminds me of Icee in looks and temperament. He's kind of laid back and just a sweetheart. Dubi is a busy, clingy boy. Kind of like our Chili in temperament. He's not sure that he likes John yet since John makes a lot of noise mowing and using power tools. John is trying to offer him treats to become Dubi's friend. Today I took Tiger to the vet since I've noticed blood in his urine. It seems he has bladder stones. The vet says that they might be because of an untreated bladder infection. He's now on antibiotics and a special renal diet to see if that takes care of the problem. I pray that it does the trick.

New deck and Pergola

In the beginning, John created a dirt pit...........then, with the help of a couple of pros, created a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the view of the lake.

John has wanted a big deck for a long time, now he has it. Looks like we will have plenty of room for entertaining and family gatherings. He has added wiring for lights and ceiling fans. Also drip lines for watering the plants. We just purchased two sets of patio tables and chairs which were such fun to assemble. We are thinking about adding hedge plants along the front, but may wait until Spring for that project. For now, the lawn needs some help getting over the construction, etc. Thanksgiving is around the corner so some projects will just have to wait.

Boat garage......

Finally finished the boat garage for John's boat. I'm so glad to be rid of that tacky tarp boat cover we were using. This should keep the squirrels from chewing up the carpet, etc. on the boat and should give John some storage room for some of his boating and hunting stuff. We will be adding Hibiscus shrubs and finishing up on the painting, etc. I'm sure that John will be adding lighting too. Another project almost completed. Now to get back to the landscaping.

Improvements

We just finished putting in an extension to our driveway to complete the drive circle in order to get rid of the mulched areas which tend to get washed away with heavy rains. The circle makes for great skating too. The new concrete drive is definitely better than the mulched driveway although it requires a lot more time to blow off the leaves, etc. The next project is re-landscaping the island and to re-sod the areas of the lawn destroyed by chinch bugs and the work done. Then we plan to build a boat garage for John's jon-boat because the squirrels have decided to eat the carpeted areas of his boat.Before the deck and pergola were added. We removed the hedges and sod.

After the deck and pergola were completed.

We decided to add a 15 x 54 foot deck and pergola which adds shade to the enclosed patio which tends to stay warm during the summer months from the sun which comes into that area. The deck makes for a nice sitting area and I'm looking forward to adding plants from my collection. Next we are going to cover the area under the deck to keep the dogs and varmints out, then we will add hedge plants along the front, probably using red and orange blooming Ixora bushes which can be trimmed to just above the deck floor. We can already tell that the pergola shade is cooling down the temps in the patio. Hopefully it will help lower our electric bills as well. We also plan to move our gas grill to this deck since the squirrels are destroying the grill cover when we aren't looking. Of course there is new patio furniture to buy along with plant pots, etc. John has already ordered a palette of sod for this Thursday. The snow-ball effect you know. Oh, my aching back, I'm getting too old for all this work. Oh yes, today was John's first day away from his old job. He is officially retired. Now where is that "honey-dos" list.