Little Bits of Love

Mary and Joey

2009-11-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

New dress for awards ceremony

2009-11-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

Mary's new hair

2009-11-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

More summer fun

2009-11-07T11:38:00.001-05:00

Pool Fun in Crossville

2009-11-07T11:07:00.001-05:00

Kenny Ricky and Jessie at Christmas

2009-11-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

2009-11-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

Daddy Love

Steve and Phil July 4th car show

2009-11-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

Joey after his bottle.

2009-11-07T10:59:00.000-05:00

Baby Joey

2009-11-07T10:55:00.000-05:00

2008-12-29T01:06:00.001-05:00

Christmas Parade part 4

2008-12-29T01:03:00.001-05:00

Christmas Parade 3

2008-12-29T00:57:00.002-05:00

Christmas Parade 2

2008-12-29T00:50:00.001-05:00

The Disney Christmas Parade

2008-12-29T00:48:00.000-05:00

The Life Size Angel on the Tree

2008-12-29T00:47:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Epcot Christmas Tree

2008-12-29T00:46:00.000-05:00

The Epcot Tree

2008-12-29T00:45:00.000-05:00

Mary and Amy

2008-12-29T00:43:00.000-05:00

The 3 Story Tree in the Grand Floridian Hotel

2008-12-29T00:42:00.001-05:00

My Little Houses

2008-12-29T00:02:00.000-05:00

My Christmas Village

2008-12-28T19:52:00.001-05:00

Carol of the Bells part 3

2008-12-28T19:47:00.001-05:00

Carol of the Bells part 2

2008-12-28T19:14:00.003-05:00

The Carol of the Bells played at the Epcot Arches is just beautiful!! I think it was the idea that set me in motion for my own musical light display. People sit or stand and watch the lights and music in total awe!!!

2008-12-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

Mary

2008-12-28T19:02:00.001-05:00

My Christmas Fireplace

2008-12-28T19:00:00.002-05:00

Mary's Gingerbread House

2008-12-28T18:59:00.002-05:00

Main Street Christmas Tree

2008-12-28T18:57:00.001-05:00

Mary at the Gingerbread House

Cinderella's Castle on Main Street

2008-12-28T18:52:00.001-05:00

Mary and Amy

2008-12-28T18:49:00.001-05:00

Christmas Fireworks part 3

2008-12-28T18:38:00.002-05:00

Christmas Fireworks part 2

2008-12-28T18:32:00.002-05:00

Christmas At Epcot Fireworks

2008-12-28T18:05:00.002-05:00

My family is so very fortunate to be able to see Christmas at DisneyWorld every year. My husband, Steve, has been there 30 years and lucky us!!! We get a Silver Pass every year. The beauty of the flowers, decorations and special events cannot be captured in words or on film. I still stand with tears streaming down my face every time I witness a fireworks display and listen to the music that goes along with it. It is a wonderous event to me!!! I hope you enjoy them too.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-28T17:49:00.004-05:00

This is my front yard. I have always loved the syncronized lights at Epcot. I happened to see a few of the light displays online (You Tube) and wondered exactly how they made their lights go on and off to music. I thought it might be a computer program. I just happened to see a light set at Penneys. It explained there were 6 outlets for sets of lights and a speaker. I bought it. There were no instructions. I had seen how the lights worked out at the Epcot Arches so I had an idea of how it all works. Two hours later, I was done. The neighbors all love it. People stop in their cars to watch. There are about 10 songs with it. Then I made my own cd with 20 Christmas songs. I attach my cd player to it and it plays my personal favorites. I love it!!!

The Birds

2008-06-17T13:23:00.004-04:00

There were so many Franklin Gulls and Pellicans it was amazing!! Mary called the pellicans the "Biker Dudes" because they moved around in a pack. Steve called them the "Pellican Possee".There were thousands and thousands of schools of baby fish and the gulls hovered over them and dived into them. The little fish moved in huge dark clouds. We watched them move around the pilings and the dock for hours. When the birds would fly over them, they would jump right out of the water and try to get away. It looked and sounded like a rain shower on the water.

Fort Desoto Vacation

2008-06-17T13:18:00.007-04:00

Mary

Proud Daddy on Fathers Day

collecting shells

Mary digging

2008-06-17T13:14:00.002-04:00

Groveland Sunset

Table

The Pool

2008-06-17T13:07:00.006-04:00

Petunias

Begonias

Humming bird vines

hibiscus

Geraniums

2008-06-17T13:05:00.000-04:00

Petunias

2008-06-17T12:59:00.000-04:00

Front walk

2008-06-17T12:39:00.001-04:00

construction on front walk

front walk now

2008-06-17T12:38:00.000-04:00

Froggy

2008-06-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

Front walk

2008-06-17T12:36:00.000-04:00

Bird bath and flowers

2008-06-17T12:34:00.000-04:00

Fairy Ball

My Gardens

2008-06-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

The Fairy Garden

Pretty Birdbath

2008-05-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

Mary and I made this with 5 clay pots, glued together and then we added a pot bottom for the water. We bought beads and glass shells at Walmart. A fun project!!

BirdBath Mary and I made

2008-05-21T15:26:00.000-04:00

The Lioness

2008-05-19T10:01:00.001-04:00

Rhinos

2008-05-19T10:00:00.001-04:00

Mama

2008-05-19T09:58:00.002-04:00

So Beautiful!!

2008-05-19T09:58:00.001-04:00

Elephants

2008-05-19T09:56:00.001-04:00

Momma and Baby Elephants

2008-05-19T09:55:00.000-04:00

Our Trip to Animal Kingdom-Her Highness

2008-05-19T09:51:00.000-04:00

Tree Frog in the Garden

2008-05-19T09:49:00.000-04:00

The Pool

2008-05-19T09:33:00.001-04:00

This was fun! I felt just like Huck Finn!! It looks level doen't it? Well it's not!. Mary and I picked this nice level spot and erected the pool. Nothing to it. As we filled the pool it became quite obvious one side was about 8 inches higher. We let the water out. I put bricks under the low side posts. We lifted it up and filled under it with sand. The high side was a little trickier. We supported the posts and then dug under the lining with spoons to lower it. It was alot of digging with a spoon, laying on the ground. While tossing out sand, I came across a very ugly grub! It was white with a huge black head. About the size of a man's large finger. We screamed. We were sittting in the sand not paying attention to bugs. A couple of days later my son saw a large snake in the same area. His description fit a water mocassin, so I guess it's important to pay attention in the garden here.

Gorgeous Hibiscus

2008-05-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

Privacy Hedge

2008-05-19T09:22:00.000-04:00

I planted this privacy hedge with hibiscus. It should grow nice and fill in. The birdbath is made from two of my old pottery pickling pots with a large lid upturned on top. The birds love it. There is a bird feeder hanging from the tree just above the crystal ball. The bushes on the right are lantana. They bring butterflys and hummingbirds.

New Awning

2008-05-19T09:17:00.000-04:00

I made this awning with material from JoAnns and PVC pipe.

The Side Garden Walk

2008-05-19T09:15:00.000-04:00

New Swing

2008-05-19T09:05:00.000-04:00

I have been working on my yard every day. My mother-in-law had this swing in her back yard. She is trying to get rid of clutter, so I took it. It's probably about 40 years old. It was covered in rust so I repainted it. The arm supports were rusted through. I added washers and new wood to support the arms. I added new chain and eye hooks. Then a cushion. The chains are suspended from a large branch. That was fun. I attached a rope and water bottle to one end and then kept throwing it over the branches until I caught the right ones. Then I attached the chain to the rope and pulled it over. Not easy. Great exercise!!!! I sat out there yesterday with my book and a glass of wine. Mary was in her pool. Very nice.

Side Door Garden

2008-05-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

The Girls in the Gazebo

2008-04-22T09:49:00.000-04:00

The Falls Again

2008-04-22T09:46:00.000-04:00

I Come To The Garden Alone

2008-04-22T09:32:00.000-04:00

My Amazed Girls In the Old Tree

2008-04-22T09:25:00.000-04:00

Tranquility Garden

2008-04-22T09:22:00.000-04:00

The Beautiful Old Tree

2008-04-22T09:19:00.000-04:00

The Beautiful Falls

2008-04-22T09:13:00.000-04:00

My Angel

2008-04-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

Cypress Gardens

2008-04-22T06:07:00.000-04:00

The End of the School year

2008-04-22T05:43:00.000-04:00

Mary will finish the fourth grade on June 6. This year has just flown by. Last Friday we took a field trip to Cypress Gardens. I was dissappointed. The last time I was there (1965) it was so beautiful. The flowers and gardens were so beautiful. There were southern belles everywhere and the water skiing show was unbelievable. This time, the gardens were not one fourth of what they used to be. No southern belles walking around. The water show that was once 40 people is now 6. Only a few people seemed to appreciate the true beauty of the flowers and wildlife. Most people were there for the amusement park. It seems so sad that everything today has to have "rides" or it is left to ruin. I am truly thankful that someone cared enough to try to save the old gardens but the buildings are old, outdated and in sad condition. No one seemed to have ever gone there in any recent times so I was the only one to make comparisons. We did ride all the rides and have a great time. We still have a ton of things to do. We have a soft ball game field trip on Thursday. A field trip to see "Grease" next week. A trip to "Arabian Nights". A school fair. Her grade awards on the 28th. Every week there are two or three things we have planned. Busy Busy. Steve has been very busy at Epcot. The annual "Flower Show". He is lucky if he gets a day off. I'm busy in my yard. I made an awning and I'm still trying to finish it to my specs. I cut down all the ancient foilage and I'm making plans for gardens. Hopefully I will get a privacy fence up but for now I'll settle for privacy hedges of some sort. I'm still working on my sewing room. The water was leaking into Steve's room and ruining the floor so that project took priority. That side of the house is now painted. I need to move around the corner and tackle the front of the house. Bye for now.

Pirate Princess Party 4

2008-03-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

The girls went on ride after ride and just laughed and laughed! Here are some photos of them and the castle.

Pirate Princess Party 3

2008-03-05T13:54:00.000-05:00

I cannot tell you what a great time we had. All of the pirates and princesses that worked there treated us like we were royalty. It was so special. There were special treasures all over the park. The map shows where to find them. A beautiful parade started at 9 with fireworks to follow.

The fire works were breathtaking!! At the peak of the show, Tinkerbell flies down from the top of the castle. During the pirate music and fireworks, there is a large pink flag on the castle with a cross and bones skull. We had never seen fireworks shot out of the castle. It was amazing!! Just a truly awesome fireworks show. Such beautiful fireworks!!

Pirate Princess Party 2

2008-03-05T13:33:00.001-05:00

Amy and Mary were so excited. They went back into a private room with Jack Sparrow and he laughed and joked with them. They watched a Pirate Tutorial and Mary was asked to join his crew.

The Pirate Princess Party

2008-03-05T13:09:00.000-05:00

We had such a wonderful time at Disneyworld on March 1st. Steve gave Mary, Me and Amy tickets there for Mary's birthday. We started the evening with a trip on the monorail. As we arrived , there was an eerie fog billowing from the entrance. Pirates let us through the gates and our adventure began. We took a Pirate Treasure Map and headed off in search of supper. Frontierland has a great burger cafe. Chefs cook skillets of onions, peppers, and mushrooms. There are also large bowls of salsa, tomatoes, lettuce and chopped onions. When our meal is ready, we head over to the "toppings" area and add all the sauteed and fresh toppings you wish. The food there is fantastic! We finished our supper and headed to New Tortuga and the Pirates Ride.

Outlander Jamie and Claire Fraser

2008-02-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

I am an avid reader. I work at Borders Books.
I have "book lust". A dangerous thing to have while
working at a bookstore.
I have read many many books.
My absolute favorite is the "Outlander" series by
Diana Gabaldon. The series is loved by thousands.
We have repeatedly asked for a Miniseries.
People on YouTube have made hundreds of mini
movies. The links below are some of my favorites.
They are photos of Scotland and the Standing Stones
along with the people we wish would be the actors in
the Miniseries. Most of us agree Gerard Butler is
Jamie. Most libraries carry the series. It is on cd
by Recorded Books and Read by Davina Porter with
her perfect scottish accent. The stories come to life
when she reads them. I actually feel I "know" Jamie
and Claire. I have read and listened to them over and
over. Please take a look at the videos.

Mid Life

2008-02-24T03:16:00.000-05:00

Here it is 3 am. Again I can't sleep.

It is strange to reach a point in life,

when I need more sleep and I cannot sleep at all.

I just don't understand how I can be so tired and not sleep.

It is almost as though my body senses I'm beyond the midpoint

in my life and every minute becomes more precious.

I get up and fix a cup of decaf coffee.

I switched to decaf awhile ago and I never cared for colas.

I drink two cups in the morning, max, and still can't sleep. Oh well,

more time to express my creativity, right?

On to another day.

It seems that no matter how I plan things

there is never enough time in the day to do everything.

I used to be able to charge into projects and finish in no time.

Now it takes days to find the energy and time.

I always assumed(and you know what that word means) that as I got older

things would get easier and I would have more time for me and the things

I wanted to do and create. I don't know what ever gave me that idea?

I am quickly approaching retirement age and yet,

I see no end to the everyday

demands of work, children, home and health.

Little things constantly pop up and delay whatever thing I might be trying

to work on or finish.

No one seems to notice that I am having trouble keeping

up with everything. It is such a struggle. I keep going, day after day.

I wonder, will I have some time to myself before the struggle ends?

Will I get to travel to the places I dream about?

Life is short. Will I see any of my dreams come true?

Is it selfish to have dreams?

I am beginning to think TV is a bad thing.

I don't get to watch much and when I do,

it is usually factual or do it yourself learning.

I watch the decorating channels.

The big, fancy homes with lots of room and plenty of space.

I wish I had more space.

I wish I had some new appliances.

I wish I had the money and help to fix up my home.

I see all the new cars. I am just happy if my car runs and

does not break down or cost more money. I'll never have a new car.

I try to remind myself that all those things are just material.

Truthfully, I would live in a nice little two room wood shed

in my older daughter's back yard if that was a possibility.

I would like to enjoy her companionship every day.

We would walk outside in our night gowns to her picnic table

and have our morning Coffee together

and chat about all our everyday problems and plans.

Watch the sun slowly rise.

Listen to the birds and watch the deer. Just enjoy the Quiet.

I would get to see my three grandchildren every day.

I miss them.

So very much.

Tennessee seems a million miles from Orlando.

I guess I better go lay down and get some rest if I can.

My youngest daughter will be up and bouncing around at 7.

She always keeps me very busy.

Today is her Grandma's birthday so I guess we'll go party with her.

Get Well Dad. Bless you.

Get Well Dale. Bless you.

Get Well wishes to my dear daughter, Michelle. Bless you.

Bless and Love you all.