Sea Holly

A few months ago Basket Gal gave me a pot with a plant in it. She told me it was Sea Holly. The plant was low in the pot with just a few leaves. I decided to plant it over by the pond.....Sea Holly....water! Who knows I wasn't sure what it was going to grow into. I love it! I love plants, especially ones that I am not familiar with. Always a surprise! I hope you love it as much as I do!When I first got the plant all that was visible was the bottom of the plant that you see next to the ground.....who would know it would grow tall and slender and look so elegant!

The top, so cool!

Sea Holly in bloom!

Dog Days of Summer

I have to apologize but most of my blogs for the time being will be of course of Sizzle! What else do you do when you have a new puppy but watch her every minute, play with her and love her. So, bare with me I hope you don't get bored but here is some of what we did on Sunday in the beautiful weather we are having!
What fun to roll around in the grass with your dad!

And after a good day of play....one must always take a good nap!

Life has Changed

Life has changed in leaps and bounds! Oh my goodness, I forgot how much work a puppy is! It took I don't know how many trips yesterday afternoon to the patio just to get our lunch, beverage and puppy outside. We decided we needed to get more organized.....wish us luck!

First she is very cute, she is very brave and she doesn't like her crate! Last night was the first night she slept away from her brothers and sisters. She slept in a crate with Toni and Maria next to her on their beds. At first Toni was having none of it and kept leaving the room.....she later decided it wasn't so bad. Maria just covered her head with her blanket. I will get a picture of that for you later. After a temper tantrum she did fall asleep and slept until about 3 am. We went out she pottied, we came back in and after a smaller tantrum she fell asleep and slept until 6 am. Not too bad for a baby's first night!

Oh, by the way her name is "Sizzle" From the looks of it I think she is going to be SIZZLING! Enjoy the pictures of her first day at home.
Enjoying a toy on the cool grass.

And after playing in the pond and investigating her new home a good nap is always in order!

Life's Changes

I have to apologize for being gone so long. At work I was doing the job of 3 people for 2 weeks while people were on vacation. I was and still am very tired. So I decided to take today off! But things are pretty much back to normal or as normal as they can be. I have always said I am not much for change, except in the garden! But it seems like my life changes all the time....sometimes not my doing and sometimes it is. Well this time it was all me.....This was our pet family up until a year ago!

This is Matt & Hayley. They are 4 1/2 years old and are Zoe's Children. We have had them since they were born.

This is Maria. She is 3 1/2 years old and we have had her since she was 7 weeks old.

This is Sydney. She is 7 years old and we have had her since she was 9 weeks old.

These are the girls, Beyonce, Oprah and Michelle. We have had them a little over a year! They are the producers of the golden eggs!

This was our pet family and I was pretty happy with it. Then I guess I needed a change!

This is Toni. She is 7 years old and she came home with us last June from Darcie and Anthony's house in South Carolina.Not sure why we needed another dog, I was happy with my pet family but I guess I needed a change! Then this past January I was asked to go check out some dogs at the local shelter. Big mistake, I found Burke and everyone knew there was going to be another change in our household.

This is Burke. She is 7 or 8 years old. We have had her since January 24th 2010. I think now our count is back up to 5 dogs, 1 cat and 3 chickens last time I checked.So you would think that was enough change for me in one year.....right? I guess not because as of tomorrow I am pretty sure there is going to be another change at Helsdonia!

Blooms and Blooms to Come

My mother was here the other day and she was commenting on all of my flowers. She reminded me of the time when I was a kid and just didn't understand her compassion for flowers. It brought back a lot of memories of her flower beds and pots on the porch and the weeding and the planting. Remember the saying "we all become our parents" and we never want to believe it! Well, it happens and when you are young you hate it....but as you get older you realize it is not so bad and why should it be? They raised you well, took care of you, taught you never to spit, use a sidewalk if there is one to use, if that doesn't work get a bigger hammer and so on! I think it happens to us all and I am okay with it.....Not so sure my children are! Enjoy some pictures of my flowers that I have put up for my mom!

Remember the Lily before it was all in bloom...well here it is in full bloom!
Another one of my favorites....Bees Balm. Love it comes back every year fuller and fuller. This is a new plant this year but starting to bloom the bees and hummingbirds love it too!

Day Lily just loaded this year with blooms!

This plant spreads like a weed, it goes everywhere but it is worth it because of the bright pink flowers. It always seems to pop up just where you need a little color. I love the garden it is always full of surprises.

My new Hardy Fuschia.....they die back in the Winter and look like a dead stick. Pulled last years out thinking it was dead :(

And more blooms to come. This is another Bees Balm plant in another part of the garden that is loaded with buds, it might be a surprise what color this one is!

Beautiful Birds

Besides having beautiful flowers and vegetables growing in our garden we also have some beautiful visitors. Not to mention the non-wanted ones but we won't talk about those today. We have some beautiful birds that come to our feeders. I haven't been able to get pictures of all of them but some I did.We have alot of these during the summer! Goldfinch is the state bird...oh wait or is that the crow!
These came the other day. They were very calm or very hungry because I could get very close to them before they flew away.Very cool looking birds!I think they are from the Grossbeak family but I have never seen any with this coloring.Jeff and I enjoy watching the birds in our backyard it is very peaceful. Except when the crows come and we spend our time chasing them out of the yard. But most of the time....very relaxing!

The Only One

If you have brothers and sisters I think once in our lives we have always dreamed of being the only one. To have everything to ourselves, never have to share and never being annoyed by someone either smaller than you or bigger! But in the end I think we are greatful to have our family around!

Getting to be the only one in the kitchen with dad.....treats all to yourself!
Napping on the favorite bed alone and being warm and cozy!
Then enters the sister chewing loudly on a bone!
Remembering the quiet time of the day and being most annoyed but what can you do she is family.
In the end the nap wasn't so great and there is plenty of time for sleeping and what would you do without your family!They are always behind you when you need them the most!

Amelia

Amelia....where do I begin. This is a story that has many beginnings, so much in the middle and an ending I would never be ready for, but planned for every day. Every part of her life holds so many memories and emotions I will have to tell it in parts.....

First...Sydney from the time we brought her home, hated dogs! But she loved Amelia.

They were so much a like.
I think they were sisters in another life. My favorite picture of all time. One dog who didn't really think she was a dog and a cat who didn't really think she was a cat.

I miss her so and I think Sydney does too.

People and their Professions

I have always wondered what makes people choose the line of work that they do. Some people choose a profession and stay in it their whole lives....some people go from one to another. I knew that I always wanted to work with animals. I also knew I wanted to be a mother. I knew I didn't want to be a waitress very long...one summer in high school was enough of that! So for the past 30 years I worked for a Veterinarian. I was fortunate to be able to work for the same place those 30 years and it became like a family to me. I also am a mother and for the past 27 years that has been my favorite profession. I also have always wanted to be a gardner....working in a nursery where it was warm and there are flowers everywhere. How great does that sound? But a couple years ago I was asked to leave the veterinary profession and go work in a law office. I felt like a fish out of water. There are no animals there...well except when I break down and take a dog to work with me! There isn't any children, except when they call. There are no flowers and I am not outside in the sunshine. I have got a sense of accomplishment though...I learned something that was pretty foreign to me. I called the files charts for the longest time which of course no one could understand and I think I do the job pretty well.
I have met a guy, well I actually only saw him for the first time about a week ago! We were having a mole problem and someone gave me Murray's number. I spoke with him on the phone once about 4 years ago. From then on I have only left messages that we have another mole! He comes sets his traps and then returns in a week to see if he has caught anything. I have always thought this was the most amazing profession. How does someone decide he is going to be known as "The Mole Man" I don't care how he decided I am just so greatful that he is!

EVIDENCE.....the first sign you need to call Murray!

Now you can imagine what kind of destruction these pesky little creatures can do....imagine these mounds of dirt all over my front yard! They can make 3-5 mounds a night so you can see it could get out of hand very quickly!

You call Murray, you leave a message and you come home from work and the traps have been set!

You come home a week later and if you are lucky you have a paper bag on your front porch. I can not tell you the feelings you feel.....excitement, happiness and then the thought you have to pay $50 and you pray that he only caught ONE! How does someone choose to be a mole man....I don't know but I am thankful I have Murray!

R.I.P. little mole!

Garden Surprises!

Yesterday Jeff and I ventured out to the garden! He tried to convince me we haven't spent much time out there because the x-pen for the chickens serves as a barrier. I am not sure that is the reason, I think it's we don't have the energy after working long hours all week. But I believe it gives us enough pleasure that we are going to have to make it out there more often. I was very surprised to see how much things were growing though with the lack of attention. Weeds.....really like less attention, they seem to thrive on it! Enjoy the pictures and I have to run because another work week is about to begin!

An Artichoke...we didn't plant these last year....there is actually two!


Corn....the stalks look great and are finally growing. Notice our helper for the day!


Beans!

Red onions!

Isn't this cute!

Tomatoes have flowers and there were a few small tomatoes but they fell victim to the gardner with the clippers...don't ask:( Potatoes are coming along still need to be mounded. And picking peas!

Couldn't resist this photo! Was taking a close up of my favorite flower and guess who was in the background! Matt had a very good day yesterday and was with Jeff and I wherever we were. Still haven't figured out his deal yet!

The Daily Newspaper

Jeff loves his daily newspaper, we get it delivered everyday. Everyone reads the paper for a variety of reasons; to keep up on the world around us, politics, business, sports, comics, advertisements and the standing joke....have to check the Obituaries to make sure my name is not there! We all complain about it but yet we still have it delivered. The subscription price keeps going up and the paper keeps gettting smaller. Our complaints range from the size of the paper, how did that make the front page, they forgot the comics, no grocery ads, can't find the movie section and the famous front page story that starts on the front page and continues on page A-7 and there is no A-7! Jeff reads the paper most every day, some days it is harder than others!

Jeff's question to me was "how am I suppose to read my paper?" my question to him was "what is Sydney doing on the kitchen table?"

Sydney either hates the daily paper or she just doesn't want Jeff to read it.

I think he finally gave up...Sydney wins!