Living Life Beautifully

This was a beautiful day! Look at that little face!!!! I couldn't think of what I wanted to blog about today. Everything I thought of seemed stressful. So..... I thought about my son coming home for a few weeks. I still remember that moment when they held him up for me to see for the very first time, all bundled in that warm blanket and my husband snapped the picture. At this point, Justin wasn't born yet. What an adventure. Last night Bruce and I went to our youngest son's band contest.  They didn't win, but it was an awesome show.  We are both so proud. I wish the world was a friendlier place for our son's. The election is happening and I worry about what life will be like for all of us if things don't change. The wealthy get wealthier and the middle class are getting poorer.  Young people will have a hard time buying a home or living a good life without the help of parents. People are not as healthy because of bad or p...

Good Monday Morning! It looks like fall outside, but it isn't very cool.  I'm not much into Halloween, but I'm so in love with November and December. In fact, October has many anniversaries of difficult things.  This year it's gone by really fast. I watched a documentary the other day called, "food matters". It had such good information.  So, I'm trying to drink 32 oz of water every morning before I have my coffee, and I'm going to try to get more raw, organic, fruits and veggies into my diet.  I do really well, but not much of it is raw. I didn't realize how much nutrition is lost with cooking. I'm going to really work on getting that cucumber, celery, fruit juice made every day, and I need to make sure to get at least one entire bottle of Kombucha in each day.  I've only had a small glass for two days and woke up with much more pain this morning.  It'll be a good test today, to see if it helps. I've been getting in my ...

And....the cooler weather is here.  I'm in heaven. I've opened all the windows to air out the house.  It feels so nice. I let Greta outside to walk around.  Poor thing is such a mess with his allergies. He is having so much fun out there.  He rolls around on the gravel and licks brick.  In the garden he kept playing with a plant limb that has this big umbrella like thing at the end.  Every time he would touch the limb, the end would move and he would jump.  Sweet boy. Yesterday I had lunch with my cousin Candy.  It's a bit of girl therapy to sit and talk. I love lunches with my cousins. Last night was the second night of taking the new medication for my restless legs and sleep issues. I ended up with 6 hours, which isn't bad for me.  I feel much more rested and I have fewer dreams.  It's made a difference in the amount of energy I have through the day.  It's crazy to think how much getting good sleep effects your day and y...

Good Morning.  All of Texas has hope that the day will cool down.  I'm not sure we will get what we want.  Still...it's a pretty day outside and the bucks are chasing the does.  Be careful when you drive.... or walk.  There's a lot of movement on the property.  The house is quiet.  The youngest is at school and dad is taking a cat nap before he heads off to work for the day.  He has a busy weekend.  I, on the other hand, am going to have lunch with my sweet cousin today and have the weekend to do what I need to do at home.  I have so much to choose from. My oldest and his girlfriend are working on the house in town to make it look nice for their Christmas gathering.  I will always love that house.  So many memories.  It's fun to watch someone else get excited about it.  I had many days of dreaming about what I wanted to do with this and that.  I completed everything I set out to do there, and then moved t...

Oh the joy of cool weather to come. We're supposed to get a cool front Thursday.  I can't wait. This morning when I walked into the kitchen, Greta was sitting in the kitchen sink. When I asked him what he wanted, he sniffed the faucet.  So, I looked at the water bowl and it was low but still had water.  They don't like the last inch of water.  I can't blame them.  Brink shares their water bowl and he eats their poo.  I'd want fresh water also.  I'm guessing Brink thinks of their poo as his own version of probiotics.  And yet, he is the pickiest eater in my house. I don't quite understand dogs and their love of all that smells nasty.  I'm a cat person.  Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment that should give me information I've been wanting for, for over a year.  Of all the things I test positive for, does that mean I have all those illnesses?  Information is power for me.  I remember my mother in law thinking she was ...

Good Morning! It's cloudy outside.  As I was making my coffee in the kitchen, I looked out the window, and the neighbors chickens were trying to get my attention.  They are so funny.   Finally one of them flew up onto the garden gate and looked at me through the window as if to say, "get your rear out here and feed us". As I walked out the front door to the porch and towards the gate to the gravel driveway, they started running towards me.  I sat on the ground and set their food down only to find that Kiki decided to come and visit me also.  The chickens weren't too sure about her.  They waited a while, at a distance, until they realized she wasn't a threat.  It's fun to listen to them talk while they eat.  If they see anything that might be a threat, they make little noises to each other and you can hear them discuss it with little chirps.  I have listened to roosters for years in the neighborhood and told my husband that I would...

Hello Mr Tuesday! So far, I like you.  It's only just past noon and you have done well. Although...I wish you would magically clean my house. Yesterday was one of those busy productive days that it looks like you did nothing. Paperwork, cooking, computer work, garden.....Looks like nothing when the day is done. We have ants in the garden.  Did I already tell you that? Well, anyway...  The ants are a bother, but they keep some of the bugs down. Yesterday one of the chickens stepped on a very large ant nest and I watched as she picked them off and stomped her foot.  I felt so bad for her and yet it was fun to watch her stomp her foot. Today I watched as they discovered the pond.  That was funny watching them try to figure out how to get to the water without falling in.  It was sweet watching them drink all in a line, and then tottle off to the back yard.  They are such fun. I started a flare later in the week but it was very mild.  I think it ...

What a beautiful Sunday.  Bruce is out mowing the property and I just worked an hour or so in the garden cleaning up beds. Some of the tomato plants are starting to produce again, half of the green beans are still producing and we still have so many jalepenos.  Everything needs some compost to boost their growth.  When I have the energy and it's cool enough, I need to take a wheelbarrow into the garden and add a few scoops per plant.  Our compost bed is doing really well.  Each day I take out all the coffee grounds, egg shells, and scraps to the pile and bury it.  After only a few days a good amount of the stuff is broken down and eaten by worms.  The only thing I lack in the compost pile is poo.  I just don't feel like going out and buying a bag of poo for the compost.  Worm poo will have to do. Yesterday I went through my shelf of books that are faith based, and picked out 4 to read on the back deck while it was still cool in the day....

Good morning! The birds are in the garden eating bugs.  I wish they would eat all those darn stink bug things on my tomato and green bean plants.  I wish I could go outside and have a little birdie meeting.  I could bring pictures of the specific bugs I need them to eat and I would be so happy.  We could sing a little motivational birdie song when the meeting is over.  That way they could start the day with a great attitude, they would get nice and fat, and I would have nice pretty tomatoes without strange bites all over them. Greta is looking for a new place to sit.  He springs into the air, every once in a while, as if a bee is stinging him in the rear.  Until he finds a place that he thinks has no imaginary bee's, I will have to watch him walk back and forth through the house searching and springing about.  At the moment, he seems to be contemplating jumping up onto a tall cabinet in my craft area.  Sigh..... The clouds are teasing u...

I was just in the kitchen looking at my two gallons of K tea that are just about ready to be made into approximately 12 bottles.  It will be 7 total batches, (42 bottles) that I've made and approximately $168 dollars that I've saved. (Takes applause with a wave and mouthing "thank you...thank you very much") So far I have noticed that my joint pain is so much less.  I hope it's from the K tea and not just that I'm taking a break from a flare. I'm going to keep at it and keep you posted. This morning I saw a large female doe walking towards the back brushy part of the property, and she had spots.  That would mean she's an axis deer.  I've never seen an axis deer in this area.  She was such a beautiful animal but had an injury to  her back end causing her to limp.  That was sad to see.  We rarely see those injuries heal in the deer we've had here.  I imagine we will have more and more deer migrate this direction ...

Good morning! I wish I was one of those people who sleeps really well and gets up early. Then, when I say good morning, it wouldn't be so close to lunch time.  It's a bit humid and warm this morning.  The chickens have already been playing on the back deck banisters and checking the windows for me, so I went and fed them.  They've become more comfortable with me and like to play and dump the food bowl.  So, a good amount of seed is under the deck now.  The golden hen they had with them for two days hasn't shown up in two days.  I'm guessing they ousted her.  I really need to do some research on chickens and figure out how they work before we venture that direction.  I want a chicken that sits on my lap.  Do they do that? Yesterday I spent a good part of the day working on my husbands back office studio room.  It's much more functional and organized now.  That was fun.   Today I need to go through two ...

Good morning! It's kinda cloudy out today.  I hope it rains a little.  I love the rain.  I don't love the leaky roof...but I love the rain.  :) Yesterday I was grumpy.  I had two red wasps sting me in one day.  Now I have a large, red, swollen spot on my leg from the first wasp sting.  It's getting warm and it itches.  Really need that to go away. I was watching my husband yesterday as he was conducting his day.  He dropped off the youngest to school, then had to plan his schedule and return texts, phone calls, emails, etc.  He left to mow lawns until 5 and then had to come home, shower, return texts, emails, and phone calls, before heading out to do a recording for his radio station that promotes local talent.  He books gigs, and dj jobs and goes out looking for sponsors for the station along with helping his boys and I with our honey do's.  He volunteers at church and makes sure he spends time with his family.  Most ...

Good morning. It's a beautiful day.  Although....it's already been a bit of a crazy day. While opening the curtains this morning, a large red wasp decided to sting me on the thigh, through my clothes.  I thanked him by whacking him with a flipflop.  Now I have a large, painful, swollen lump on my leg as wide as a lime.  The chickens have already been to visit.  They have a new member, who seems a little out of it if you ask me. She's a reddish blonde hen and at the moment she is in the front yard and the others are in the back neighbors yard.  Not sure why.  But, like I said, she seems a little out of it. Today will be a day of cleaning up this house.  It seems every room is a bit disorganized and for some reason I think the cats have marked in a few spots.  That, in itself, its the most frustrating.  I let the two younger ones out into the back part of the house the other day and the little buggers snuck through a doorway and mark...

Welcome to a glorious fall day!!!!! I got to sit on my front porch swing with my husband and my coffee and listen to the birds, on a beautiful and much cooler fall morning!!!!  YAY!!! Yesterday was a really good day.  I felt so much better and the weather wasn't so hot.  I was able to work in the garden a bit and went to see my son's band performance.  I got to visit with one of my favorite people and saw my son Justin.  The chickens even came by to have a snack and tell me hello. It really was a good day. Today my body feels good.  It's going to be another good day. I should see if my husband will fill up my bike tires so I can ride around the block. Gosh...when I think of how much time I spent on my little green recycled bike as a child. My oldest brother had a red bike.  When it was my turn for a bike my dad took that old bike, rebuilt it, painted it dark green, and added training wheels.  I drove it that way for a few weeks and then my brothe...