I have been chuckling to myself every time we relax on our apartment balcony because of the size of the Five Plants that live on this third story space. They are seriously a bit ridiculous and my husband insists that they are harboring mosquitoes  and these aren't just any mosquito-they are an invisible mosquito. Which only nibble on him... We brought these five plants with us, because well, you know me, and my love for my plants. A few of my plants are guests at my daughter's house during this interim period. These plants are Texas tough and because they are such winners, I thought I would share some facts about them, just in case you live in Texas, or in a climate similiar to mine and are looking for a hardy perennial. We have two Loquat Trees   (one is in the background of this photo) which are amazing and withstand our heat and cold, and for you my California friends they are equally happy in your climate so here is a  Link  just for you! I am sprucing up my balcony to gi

We have our preliminary house plans to tweak and there are rooms that need to be shrunk down. We have a very over sized garage for my husbands tools-saws and more saws-really a shop of sorts just attached to the house. He loves to build and in his retirement years that is exactly what he hopes to be doing. My mind is a whirl wind of choices today for everything- Inside, outside and my thoughts are in a muddle on whether or not to use Haint blue on the ceiling of the back porch or cedar on our French Country Home We have a backyard view of nature, plenty of trees and cute critters to watch too. We plan on spending as much time as possible on our back porch. Rocking in our rockers, listening to the cicada's, reading and sipping sweet tea. So decorating the porch is just as important to both of us as any of the inside furnishings. This is why I am wondering what you think and I am open to your thoughts, so please share...                                                                

Well, Amanda and Preston continue to plan, prepare and work on their home's interior and exterior with little Wyatt by their side. It is a daunting task filled with love, hope and all of the possibilities of what the future might bring. Here is part 2 of their story... If you missed last week  They Call It Home Part 1  here it is. A huge red dump truck pulled up in our driveway early one March morning. Wyatt was thrilled, I was nervous . The largest amount of pea gravel and river rock was just dumped into two mini mountains on our driveway for our backyard project. There were many times throughout this project that I wondered about my sanity. In an attempt to save money Preston was going to get rid of the muddy mess in our backyard. Rather than sod the yard he was extending our covered backyard patio into a pea gravel patio. It was my job to obtain the supplies we needed. Wyatt and I went to a gravel and rock supplier and I picked out the pea gravel, and the amount that we would n

So, it was this perfectly delightful Key Lime Pie that triggered  Reflections Of A Woman . I won't go into it again, here is the tale if you would like to read it. However,  I will say, I have a new mindset while living in our apartment waiting... If by chance you are wondering what we are waiting for we are  Trading Spaces . I  have recently developed the mindset that I am on vacation in the tropics ( the apartment complex does have a very refreshing pool) and what better dessert for a tropical vacation than Key Lime pie! Do you remember those Melamine plates from days gone by? Well, they are back and I pretty much think better than ever. If this pattern isn't your cup of tea, no worries here- Pier One, Target, Walmart, all of these stores have lovely and colorful patterns or solids. I am envisioning how perfect they would be for a backyard party this Summer. This recipe all begins with these little luscious

First off, I have a killer of a key lime pie recipe to share with you, pie is made the, photos taken, post nearly complete and then I was overcome with this need to share these reflections with you today. I suppose it was making the pie that brought all of these thoughts to the surface... Reflections of being a woman...whether you are a young woman, middle age or older, have children, have not. You are remarkable. This post is dedicated to you. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood are of my Mother in her kitchen going about her "womanly duties."  She was petite, warm, soft, and huggable-my hero.  I love the era I grew up in, there were no gray lines-not one. Right was right and wrong was wrong, men were men and women were women. She was a beautiful example of what being a woman meant. She so clearly defined it all through her actions and her thoughts. She taught me that being a woman was more than "appearance, hair, makeup, clothes." Although those things wer

I have "homes," on my mind, with the building process just around the corner. But I am not the only one that does, many of you do too, and our daughters do as well. One of our girls  just recently relocated to California with her husband and son. They purchased a precious 1950's home in the Sacramento area, I shared a few photos of their  Mid Century Home  a few months ago. However, since then, they have gotten very serious about making major updates and I thought your might enjoy viewing how it really all began. So here is part one of Amanda's story... The first night we slept in our new California house, my two year old son,Wyatt,  my husband, Preston, our dog, Patch, and myself slept on a full size blow up  mattress on the floor of what would become Wyatt’s room.  I couldn’t sleep at all.           It  wasn’t the lack of personal space , or the noise the bed  made every time I tried to shift, or the fact that we only had one pillow that was  fully occupied by m