Evening on the porch...

JP and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring evening time today and sat in our rocking chairs on the front porch. JP has been under the weather with a chest cold type thing for over a week so I'm sure it did him good to be someplace other than stuck inside. We took a little walk down to the peach trees to see little baby fruits. They're so cute and this year we have so many we're going to have to thin the fruit to no more than one per 8 inches. It's exciting to finally be seeing fruit. Speaking of fruit, I picked the first of the strawberries today and we shared a bowl for dessert. They were good. Now that I'm uploading the pictures for this post I realized that I must have deleted the pictures of our baby peaches, although I don't remember seeing them download from the camera. Dag nab it!!! Well, trust me they are so cute and I'll get more pictures when we do the thinning.

Daisy gets to go out with us when we're in the front because she's the only one who is off leash trained. She loves it, you can look at her and tell that she knows she's getting to do something that the others don't. I got her to pose in front of the Pink Painted Daisies that are starting to bloom. Please don't eat the Daisies! Anyone remember that T.V. show?


Here is our future garden. They have been hardening off for two weeks, they're ready to go in the ground. I plan to get these tomatoes, peppers, basil, Thai basil and oregano plants in the ground next week along with my seed plants.


While we were relaxing, there were birds singing and a nice breeze blowing. It was just so nice. Here are the visitors to the feeder we saw. We got buzzed by a hummingbird but I had already put the camera up.


I had to cut this amaryllis. I just couldn't leave it outside. I like fresh cut flowers, any kind really, but especially when they come from our garden.


Special blessings to you all from all of us in the holler.

Things to see...

We are approaching full blown spring mode. Things are blooming or are bursting to open. What a blessing!

Peaches on the trees.


Amaryllis is going to open any day now.


Columbine is taking over, but in such a pretty way.


This vicious looking creature is actually a painted daisy. I like to take pictures of things up close. I don't know why.


Here is the whole plant.

When I took this close-up of the peony bloom I didn't know that the dandelion pollen snuck into the picture. Oh well, we are having lots of pollen, just ask my sinuses and JP too.


These pansies are such troopers. Still blooming.


We only had one tulip this year but it's a pretty one. What a beautiful color. I think that's one from a bulb bouquet JP got for me.


We have five beautiful lilac bushes. They did really well this year.


Our new strawberry patch is looking good.


And guess what the German Shepherds of the pack are doing while I'm walking around taking all the pictures! Aw, come on, you know by now.........say it with me.........that's right!! STICK GAME, of course.

So, what's blooming in your neck of the woods? Wonderful Springtime blessings from the holler.

Brush, Brush, Brush...

Everyone gets their teeth brushed here in the holler. When new arrivals join the pack they just learn to love it. I think it is because with Daisy we made it "play" so she is all for it. And when one is having fun, naturally, everyone else wants in on it. When it is time for this activity I walk in the kitchen saying (in a sing, songy voice) brush, brush, brush! And they all gather around the drawer where they know the brush is kept. I use a regular toothbrush and minty dog toothpaste. Why not fight plaque and dog breath at the same time!

Yesterday, Speedbump was the first one.

Daisy was next. She's usually the first one to be front and center. Why do some dogs look like they have demon eyes? Maybe it's the camera angle.


Of course, Charlie is still learning. To get them started, I let them lick the mint taste a bit and then they let me go in for the cleaning part while trying to lick the paste.


Violet get's her minty fresh teeth and breath.


Scrappy has horrible breath. Part of the reason for this is her food smells like dead fish and she likes to eat anything that smells bad. JP started giving her Mentos in the truck for treats so she's a natural for getting her teeth cleaned.

Getting a picture of Corrie getting her teeth brushed is like trying to photograph Big Foot but JP got this shot.

I really don't do this as regularly as I should. It should be done once a week. But, I do try to keep up with their tooth and gum care because we had one dog who died about 6 months after having to have her teeth cleaned at the vet's office. I'm not saying it was something they did but when that tooth got infected later on it went to her brain and we lost her. So I vowed that I would do all in my power to prevent this from happening again. If you've never tried it, it's easy and those "finger brushes" are the way I started. Make it play!! You'll be glad you did.

Bright smiles and minty breath blessings from the holler to you all.

I Love You For Sentimental Reasons...

First of all, that's the title of one of my favorite songs by Nat King Cole.

I love you for sentimental reasons,
I hope you do believe me,
I've given you my heart!!!

That's not what this post is about though.
MAXMOM's BRIC-A-BRAC is one of the blogs I follow and she did a post about sentimentality. Is sentiment a futile thing? Hardly, is my answer. I'm so sentimental, just ask JP, he knows.
Exhibit a - we have been blessed with JP's Granny's breakfront which holds most of my treasures.

Next, I offer you this example. Our son (almost 31 yrs. old) made this vase for me one mother's day. How could I possibly throw that away?

I have this collection of the California Raisins. When I woke up from a surgery that I had, JP had them sitting on my bedside tray to cheer me up.

This shoe was given to me by my grandparents from a trip to Daytona Beach that they took in 1962. I was one year old then!! My Grandma also gave me that miniature tea set. We had such a special relationship. She babysat me, so that means I was one of the most spoiled of her grand babies.

The Christmas tree is from JP's Granny and the manger belonged to my parents. The manger scene was bought on their first Christmas together - over 55 yrs. ago.

The birthday cake toppers from some of my birthday cakes. That's right I was a princess way before it was so cool to be a princess!!!

My most recent treasure was given to me by JP when he was truckin' for our living. A guard at a place he delivered to made this little dog out of a string of little beads. How cool is that?

I could go on but I know you all have lives and things to do and have indulged me far too long. The reason for my sentimentality is this, I love the people behind the object and I love the stories and memories that go with each sweet piece. I love my family with a deep love and I know that I'm so blessed. For this blessing, among all the many, I am most grateful.
So, are you sentimental?
Sentimental blessings from the holler to you and yours.

Berries, Birds and Blooms...

I'm so glad that spring is here I could just sing. That's what the birds are doing!! I heard this bird singing with all her heart. She was sitting on the fence just outside our backdoor and then flew to the bird feeder to eat with her mate. What is this bird? I didn't get a good picture but I'd like to know what they are. He has red on his head and back. They are just a little bigger than the Gold Finch. Now that I'm posting these pictures I realize how bad they are so use your imagination. I should have changed the lens in the camera. In the background of this picture you see part of our shooting range, the milk jug hanging from the tree and part of a target that fell over.

JP went back to work yesterday after having a few days of vacation. They were vacation only in the sense that he wasn't at his paying job. He worked like a slave getting all of these chores done and had a good attitude I might add. He tilled, sharpened mower blades, changed the oil on the mower, mowed, tilled some more----you get the drift.

Yesterday I finished planting our strawberry bed. We've got 26 plants. As you can see we kind of over tilled but that's okay it's not like the grass and weeds won't grow right back. The bed next to the strawberries is the blueberry patch and it looks pitiful. I am ashamed at that and will crank up the weed-eater on the next sunny day. Inside the bed has been weeded but you can't see that for the two foot tall grass surrounding it. Yikes!! Okay, don't look at that anymore, look at our red-bud trees. Aren't they pretty? That's right, shameless diversion :O)

The oregano and sage is up and growing along with the weeds. We're going to have enough sage for the whole county because there are two more plants that aren't in this picture.

The daffodils are almost played out but still pretty.


Our garden spot, crab-apple tree and peach tree.


This is our hanging basket for the front porch. I think the humming birds will enjoy it too. Oh, JP, I need a new hook put up, plueeezzze! His "honey do" list is always full.

Cut it out, that tickles...

One morning last week I had gotten JP off to work and got my coffee so I could sit in my chair and have my quiet time. I have found that if I skip this part of the day (even if it's just 10-20 minutes) it makes such a difference in my attitude. I have a really good devotional book that I read along with my Bible. I can read, pray and get ready for the day ahead.

Scrappy always sits with me and insists on the side nearest the window (yes, I give in to her) so she can flop her front feet over and soak up the sun. I posted pictures of that not long ago. Meanwhile, the rest of the dogs are sprawled out all over the floor taking naps since they have full bellies from breakfast. So, this particular morning, Scrappy gets adventurous and starts climbing up to get more of the sun until she is sitting on top of the chair like a cat. I thought "no way can I get up and get the camera for a picture of this." Well, I had to try and she was content to sit there and pose for her picture. It was as if she was thinking, "don't I always sit on the edge of your chair, what's the big deal?" After I took her picture, I sat down smiling to myself thinking about the cute post I would make with this little picture.

After a few minutes, I heard Charlie growl and then stop, then growl and stop. I thought he was having a dream because he doesn't growl. He moans and groans when he's extra comfortable, stretching, or when you scratch his ears in just the right spot but he doesn't growl. Then he did it again, I looked down and Corrie was licking the bottom of his back foot and tickling him! She was tickling his back foot and he didn't want to wake up from his nap. I don't blame him!! Well she finally woke him up. She looks very satisfied with herself and he looks like he was just torn from his nap.


I hope that you all are having a great week. Blessings from the holler to you and yours.