A few weekends ago, I arrived home well after dark. Hubby had fed the pets, but Bella (our youngest kitty) had not come from outside to eat. I went out to look for her. I called and called. I heard owls hooting in the distance. Then I saw a big rat snake on our privacy fence. There was a smaller rat snake crawling     up the wire fence under our bat house. I was feeling pretty creeped out and upset that I couldn't get Bella to come. Brian came home from work and started helping me look for Bella. Then he decided to catch the snake. The other cats were also interested in the snake. It let out its defense odor. YUCK. He did catch it. He put it in a bucket, promising to relocate it in the morning. Bella finally came--early the next morning. That evening, she knocked a basket with a 1/2 dozen eggs off the counter. What a mess. I was ready to put her back outside with the owls and snakes. Oh, and Brian did let the snake go--right back in the pasture behind our yard. I'm sure I will be meeting it again, probably in my chicken coop.

Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Friday the 13th on Monday!

This happened on Monday! Can you see the sick look on his face? The top of the jeep is in a heap in the front of it. 

He was approaching an intersection to turn left. Another vehicle made a right turn into his lane and slammed into his driver's side front tire, knocking it off and flipping the jeep.

Thankfully, he WAS wearing his seatbelt.

That silvery colored wreckage is from the other car. The other driver was also wearing his seatbelt and not injured.

We went to the wrecker yard to salvage personal items from the jeep. We found his phone minus the battery and back. We took it to the store and borrowed a battery to see if it still worked. It did. So, we ordered a new battery. He has been lost without transportation or a phone! I  have been taking him to and from work.

He crawled out of this window while the jeep was turned over.

This is the tire that was torn off! 
We are so thankful that he was not injured!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Back again!

 Hello again. It has been quite a while since I've posted. I've been MIA for several reasons. First I have been busy. Second, my laptop died. Busy, with gardening, crocheting,  new chicks, end of school year, photography, and a new kitten. I will share the kitten and chicks soon. As the photo shows, my gardening gloves were quite worn out. I had been unable to find the same kind locally. My sweet hubby ordered 4 pairs for me.

The first pair is already getting broken in. Back to the dead laptop. Luckily, it died AFTER I had edited and saved the photos I took for a local church's confirmation group to a flash drive. David decided that we should try a MacBook Pro since I've been through several PC laptops. It is awesome, but I have much to learn. Most of the old programs that I used don't work on the Mac, so I am learning to use new programs. I'm glad that school will be out in one week, so that I will have more time to devote to getting it all figured out! I've also been working on the afghan I am crocheting. I will share that soon as well.

For now, here are some flowers that are blooming in my garden.         A Gerbera.

A tropical series Canna.

A Butterscotch Ruffles daylily.

More daylilies.

Strawberry Candy daylily.

Ming Porcelain daylily. I also ordered and planted some daylilies from the Paynes in the Grass Daylily Farm.

This and That

May is a busy month for teachers and gardeners! Being both, I have not found much time for blogging! I want to share a little of this and that.
 I love this little plaque that I recently received as a bunco prize! I am so blessed to be part of such a lovely group of ladies!

 Blooms are everywhere in my garden! This is one of my favorite daylilies-Ming Porcelain. The color is so soft and velvety. It also has a nice fragrance.Be warned, I have many favorite daylilies!

 Besides being hooked on daylilies, I am also falling in love with irises. This is 'Ann Chowning'. I have recently added 'Sinfonietta' and 'Full Eclipse'. I think they have probably already bloomed this year, so I will have a long wait to see them bloom in my garden. Patience is a good thing in the garden!

 We added this urn water feature a few weeks ago. The vitex behind it is starting to bloom as well. It is also known as Texas Lilac.

I neglected to trim back my antique roses this year, so they are quite wild and leggy looking! I will just have to focus on the blooms! Hopefully, I will not neglect my blog as well and be back soon!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Mani/Pedi Supply organizing

 Remember this old travel cased that I found at an Estate sale? Well, I found a great use for it.

 I keep all my manicure/pedicure supplies in it.

And while taking the above photos, I couldn't resist taking one of Rascal. He's so photogenic!
Y'all come back
Lorilee

Where to start?

Where to start? I guess there is no real need to say that I have been busy! Most of my time after school has been spent outside working in my yard. My flowerbeds are FULL of weeds, so I have been weeding and mulching. I have also planted most of my veggie garden. I got a late start there. Hopefully, not too late!

 Computer time was spent editing photos for a group of youngsters that received their First Holy Communion. After having them printed, I had to sort and package them for mailing. Thankfully, Mr. CC made the trip to the post office for me. I will be taking photos for the Holy Confirmation group in a few weeks.

I have also managed a little bit of crocheting. I am working on an afghan now.
The chickens were thrilled with a little free-ranging time before I planted the garden! Chickens and seedlings don't mix!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Root Crop harvesting

I haven't had a fall/winter garden in years! The start of school, followed by the time change make it difficult for me to find the time to work in my garden after school. I was determined this year! It really helped when we finally started getting some rain!

I think the white icicle and cherry belle radishes are so pretty!

This is my first time to raise carrots. I planted some last year, but it was too late into winter.

I plan to make pickled beets with these. I am not sure what the rogue white thing is! I think it is an Albino beet. They originate in Holland.

This is my pride and joy! It is my first Romanesco! I had more varieties of cauliflower and broccoli planted but the 2 or 3 hard freezes we had in South Texas came when the plants were susceptible to the cold, and it killed them! I also have a few sugar snap pea vines that are starting to produce. I usually pick and eat them while I am working in the garden.

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

I Won a Giveaway!

I recently won these sweet earrings from Holly at My Sister's Suitcase. The giveaway was in celebration of reaching 100 followers. She and her sister, Nat, have a fun blog to visit! Thank you for the earrings, Holly!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

"Slogger" style

 I stopped in at our local TSC (Tractor Supply Store) for some laying crumbles the other day. Look what I found. Gardening ankle boots! In LIME green!

Check them out at www.sloggers.com. Mine are the Sloggers Garden Trekker Boots. I paid about 1/2 the price on the website. I'm hoping they will keep the dirt out when I till the garden!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Winter Garden

I was thrilled to discover that while I was too occupied with other things to get out into my garden, the radishes had been busy growing! I pulled these lovelies out the other day!

They make a wonderful salad with the lettuce and spinach that I also have growing! The chickens get to enjoy the tops so all is good!

For a Kidney stone update: I went to the hospital as an out-patient to have lithotripsy done on my kidney stones on Wednesday. The Dr. was able to break up the 6mm x 10mm stone along with several others. I was able to go home that evening. The kidney is still "complaining" to me, but the pain is nothing like the initial attack! The procedure left me feeling like I got punched in the kidney! It feels bruised or tender to the touch. Yippee, there's "sand" in the toilet! (Or is that TMI!) No matter, it makes me happy!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

 I had a mess in the house most of the day as I took down and packed up my Christmas stuff. I was working hard, but Samson was definitely taking it easy!

 He wasn't the least bit disturbed by all the packing and cleaning!

 Well, he did take a break from napping to inspect one of the tubs. He doesn't look pleased!

My Dad called as I was packing the last tub. We chatted for a little while and then hung up. I finished the tub, and my hubby helped me lift all the tubs and boxes into the attic. I AM still missing one old wine bottle and two brass deer that I stashed to make room for my "Little Drummer Boy" doll. We poured glasses of wine and sat down to relax on the sofa. Sweety then asked me where I put the cordless phone when I finished talking. Of course, I didn't remember. I had a horrible thought. What if it was in the tub I was packing when I was talking to my Dad. Then I had an idea. We'd just call our number from a cell phone and listen for the ring. We can go out into the garage to be able to hear it in that part of the attic. Well, hubby told me the ringer on the handset was not turned on. He then told me I'm going to need to back out the trailblazer, pull down the ladder and find the tub! UGH, I didn't want to do that. I started wandering around the house looking for it. I found a handset on our bed. It was the one the teenager was using before he left for work. The one I had been using had been on the charging cradle the whole time! BIG sigh of relief.
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Another Hobby

First, I found a quilled snowflake pattern on Pinterest. Hmm, I haven't tried quilling. I think I'll give it a try.  So, I went to Hobby Lobby for some quilling paper and a quilling tool. I found a kit with patterns and paper just for snowflakes. One evening after the Christmas rush had settled, I gathered my supplies-the kit with its papers and patterns, the quilling tool, straight pins, scissors, glue, and the tweezers from my serger.

I also found some cardboard and laid plastic wrap over it with the pattern I wanted to try first sandwiched in the middle. It is a bit tedious at first, but it gets easier! I hope to make a garland out of them.

Of course, I'll need to make more than one!

Now to the downer!

The Friday before New Year's Eve, the Mr. and I were grabbing a burger at our favorite family owned burger place, when I started having pain in my side. I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away. It was the same feeling I had about 15 years ago when I had a kidney stone. We skipped dessert at Cherry Berry and rushed home. I found some pain meds and crawled into bed with my Bed Buddy (a rice-filled sock for heating). Luckily the meds worked and the pain got better. The next day, I managed to prepare my dried beef cheese ball, corn dip, and bacon wrapped dates to take to our New Year's Eve celebration at my brother and SIL's house. I only experienced a few twinges all evening. We had a great time. New Year's Day was also almost pain free. I awoke Monday morning and got dressed for a teacher inservice and work day at school. On my way the pain started returning. I ended up turning around and coming back home nearly in tears. I took more meds and returned to bed, but after several hours the pain was still horrible. My husband took me to the ER. It seemed to take FOREVER for them to give me a pain shot! I was so thankful when it took effect. I had a CT scan that showed a 6mm stone blocking my kidney. I ended up checking into the hospital and having a stint put in that evening to unblock the kidney. I am currently at home on meds waiting for another procedure to rid me of the stone. I am not sure which of a couple procedures my urologist plans to use, but I am anxious to say good-bye to this stone.

I told my husband this is the earliest in the year that we have ever met our medical insurance deductible. It may also be the latest our Christmas decorations have ever stayed out!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee 

More black!

 I just had to paint one last thing black before the end of 2011! The new ladder sure made reaching the curtain rod easier. I made the curtains about 12 years ago! The wooden rod was just natural wood. I had always meant to stain it, but I just never got around to it. Well, 12 years later it is finally complete, just not as I originally planned!

While I had the curtains down, I also "dry cleaned" them in my dryer. I'm thrilled with the "new" look. It is also nice to have all the cobwebs cleaned off !
On a less exciting note, I started having severe side pain when we were eating out last night. We cancelled our plans to go to Cherry Berry for dessert and came home instead. The pain is the same as the pain I had 15 years ago when I had a kidney stone. I've been keeping it down to a slight ache with pain meds. What a way to ring in the New Year!
Y'all come back,
Lorilee

Merry Christmas to me!

I received an I-pad from my sweety for Christmas. Now to learn how to use it!

Another Hobby to try!

Another win!!! Such cute ideas for using all that kitty hair! I'm thinking of using the technique for Christmas ornaments to put on my tree to represent each of  my kitties! A big "Thank You" to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. I love her "card". She used cardboard from a cereal box and stamped and embellished it! She is awesome.

I thought I'd share a few photos of my fur "donors". This is Little Rascal. He was rescued as a 4 week old kitten from the side of the road. My 16-year-old brought him home.

This is Samson. He was adopted from our local Adopt-A-Pet. He was already all grown up when we brought him home.

I probably won't get much hair until spring! Then let the grooming begin!

Y'all come back!

Lorilee