A favorite thing

I am especially fond of Mexican Heather. I really enjoy the dainty small violet flowers and the lacy foliage. In the past (at another house) I carried the shrubs through the winter by covering them with straw. Since this procedure is time and strength intensive, I won't be doing it this year. My (new this spring) Mexican Heather will weather the winter in a container on the back porch, pushed into a corner where it can benefit from the heat in the house.

After being instructed by their father, my grandchildren did a fantastic job of "weeding" Grandma's flower beds. HOWEVER.....this is the only wild violet that I have left. It popped up unexpectantly in my Mexican Heather. I'm guarding it very well and hope to coax it to spread and someday be transplanted back into my flower bed.

My new favorite kitchen gadget

The quickest and easiest way to "boil" an egg is to microwave it. If you don't mind dry eggs, that is. If I skip the grease on the eggs, then maybe my country sausage can be excused.

This little gadget makes preparing eggs for salads very easy.

You know you are a Contractor's wife when:

One Saturday we drove 30 miles to a jobsite to pick up the truck, trailer and a large piece of equipment. As usual I questioned whether CY had the keys to the truck BEFORE we left home. He verified that he did so we were on our way.
Once on site, he discovered he did not have the rather odd looking key required to start the loader. Long story-short....I scrambled in my purse and wa-la.....the key! What can I say, I'm a died in the wool contractor's wife.
By the way....I don't know how the underlining got on the first part of this post and I don't know how to get it off.

PEST

Each year we are presented a good helping of this mess. The light brown "stuff" is moist sawdust. The small black spots are ants. The whole mess is an announcement that the Carpenter Bees are back to destroy our porch structure as they build their new homes......






This is a "new home". A hole in the top board of the porch. It is quite large (about the size of a nickle) for an insect and quite unwelcome.
All of this will be avoided once we actually do get the porch screened.

MY MOUNTAIN OF DIRT

From the beginning, CY has wanted a pond behind our house. He has worked on building it for four years (off and on). This is as far as it has come.

The neighbors complain about the mountain of dirt.
The grandchildren love our mountain of dirt.
CY wants to haul away our mountain of dirt.

The birds and I ENJOY my mountain of dirt.
I really like this reflection in the late afternoons.

NECESSITY-MOTHER OF INVENTION

THE PARTS:

1. Birdbath: no longer used by birds.

They now use the pond.

2. Glue:

3. Shells:

4. Glass circle

THE OBJECTIVE:

I need a side table for my glider on the porch. There is no money in the budget for it. There is not one around the house that I can spare.

CY said glue the top to the base for stability, but which one should I use? ? ?

I used the Titebond because I couldn't figure out how to operate the Power Grab.

ALL GLUED AND STURDY !

I'm almost finished. Now I will put clear silicone (when I get some) around the glass to seal it and keep little fingers from running off with my shells.

A big "THANK YOU" to Wayne and Linda Arrington for the wonderful shells.

A QUIET PLACE

Because of the health and financial issues in our household, finding peacefulness is an uphill battle. Since I am the only warrier, I have to work doubletime.
Occasionally, I get to sit here on our porch, read my Bible Study, drink my artificially sweetened coffee and contemplate THE MEANING OF LIFE.