March 9, 2013

I hate to add a new post without a picture and I don't have anything interesting right now so here's one of me from October for anyone who hasn't seen me in awhile. (That would be everyone, lol)

Nothing much new since last time except we didn't go to Ft Lauderdale for Christmas. Mom wasn't up for the trip so everyone came here and I wasn't able to go home in January. Other than that - I've been busy getting the new condo fixed up and back and forth to Mayo for Mom's appointments.


BIG NEWS is next friday I'm headed home for a month! Woot Woot! SO excited!

December 10th, 2012

New View

We got the new condo! Woo Hoo!
Finally all settled in and it's so nice to have a more stable home instead of a 3 month at a time lease. We're closer to Saint Augustine now than Jacksonville but still only 24 miles from the clinic for Mom's treatment. AND we have a nice marsh view and in the distance can see the boats passing by on the Intracoastal Canal. Love the quiet here(the ocean was LOUD, lol). It's also LOTS warmer. The old condo was wide open to the north wind and this one has a southwest exposure.

Mom wants everyone together in Ft Lauderdale for Christmas so I'll go down there, come back here for a bit then possibly get home mid January.

November 16th, 2012

The weather is really yucky lately -
Gloomy, Howling Wind and Cold.

Still in Jacksonville since the beginning of September. Not much news except I've been busy trying to find a new condo before our lease here runs out at the beginning of next month. I *think* I have one, will find out next week. (Fingers Crossed! Time is running out!)

Hoping to get home for a bit after the move.

Sept 1, 2012

I can't believe it's SEPTEMBER already! Where the heck did the year go!?! I also can't believe I've been home 6 weeks! Most of the time it's been 105 - 110 degrees and dry, dry, dry. You can see in the pic above that the yard has just turned to dust.

Was planning on heading back to Florida tuesday but the storm friday/saturday set me back a few days (Thank God for the rain though!). Looks like I'll be leaving Thursday or Friday. I'm going to miss my home!

August 24, 2012

I've been reminiscing a lot lately and going through some old pics. I found these of when we first bought the house.

 

When I saw them my first thought was - Oh. My. God. WHAT were we thinking!?! I can't believe we bought that piece of crap!

 

On second thought, I think - we were right! We could turn it into a Great Home. And we DID.

 

 

 

Front Before

Front Now

 

Back Before

Back Now

August 18, 2012

Lynn

A good friend I never met passed away thursday. Lynn Hudson, aka LynnNChicago. I hope she's looking down from above and seeing how many lives she impacted in such a positive way.

Godspeed Lynn!

(The picture above is an inside joke and you'd have to "know" her to understand how funny it is. Good Times!)

August 14, 2012

Tough times lately thinking about Mike. He would have turned 50 on July 30th. Our 10th anniversary was August 12th and the fifth anniversary of his death was August 13th. Also, I'm home and I always feel closer to him here.

 Honeymoon at the Grand Canyon August 2002

My favorite pic

He was drunk on the above picture, lol. Who cares - it's cute. He was the best person I ever met in my life and I miss him every day.

July 14 - 26, 2012

So...........I'm home and trying to get things back in order here. Not having much luck - the 4-wheeler is broken - the mower is broken - and I've had a bug for the last 2 weeks so no energy. Not making much progress on the To-Do list! Ugh.

It's SO hot and dry. Temps have been over 100 for 6-8 weeks here and I don't know when's the last time it rained. The deer have been coming right up to the house and they're skinny! Not much for them to eat and I feel bad that I haven't been here to feed them.

Still happy to be HOME(!) and I've managed to get the house and yard cleaned up and the deer fed. Hoping to get started on some projects next week......

March 28 - July 13, 2012

Left home April 6 to go back to Jacksonville. Seems my trips get longer and longer and my time at home shorter and shorter. Since December I've been home TWO weeks! It's great to see the sunrise over the ocean every morning but I still miss my home!

Mom doing much better and planning a trip to France with Gerald and Paula so I left for home July 9. Arrived here July 11 and hoping to stay at least a month. Woo Hoo! (So much to do I don't know where to start though!)

March 23rd - March 28th, 2012

Arrived home March 23rd. Really Good News is my house is intact after severe storms and being gone so long. Bad news is my driveway is partially washed out. Again. Also good news is Spring time in Arkansas is glorious when there's no storms and so far the weather is great.

Spending my time trying to get things back in order so I can leave again......

March 4 - March 22, 2012

We left Fort Lauderdale for Jacksonville on March 4th, the weekly trip was getting too much for mom so we had a rental condo set up for March 9. March 5 we went for mom's treatment and instead they put her in the hospital. Things were not looking good but after removing 3 1/2 liters of fluid from mom's lungs and stomach, she made a great recovery and was feeling 100% better. They released her from hospital March 10 and put her back on chemo. In the meantime, we lost our condo but were able to re-rent it and move in March 15th.

March 17 Paula (my sister) came down for 2 weeks, and after getting mom and Paula situated in the condo I was able to leave for home for a week on March 22.

Thanks Paula! Soooo grateful you could find time in your busy retirement schedule to give me a break!

Feb 8 - March 3, 2012

Gylls, Mom, Jerry

Still with Mom in Fort Lauderdale. She's not doing well and most of our time is spent back and forth to doctor visits.

Feburary 7th, 2012

I don't think it's snowed yet at home but I'll post this pic from last year anyway 'cause I'm homesick.

I'm still in Florida with Mom, she was in the hospital Jan 18 - 22 with pnemonia and still hasn't been feeling too well so I'm not sure when I'll be headed back. Paula promises to come down around Feb 20th so I can have a break. We'll see.

January 13th, 2012

Hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Year!
I'm still in Florida with Mom, weather is great here but I'm kinda missing the Arkansas winter! Not much going on except doctors visits & mom hasn't been feeling too well.

December 6th - 15th, 2011

My big project this time home has been to get my driveway fixed. The first section of my drive is an easement through my neighbors property and thanks to his having loggers come in and then his "fix-it" projects, in the last 3 years I've gone from having a great drive to one that was barely passable.

After lots of headache, a lawyer, and most of my savings - Mission accomplished!

Heading out this sunday to go back to Mom's for awhile......trying to get packed up and organized!

Nov 3rd - December 5th, 2011

 Fall view from the back deck

I've been home for the last month, hard to believe! I've been trying to get caught up and organized (as usual). Weather has been mostly chilly and windy or raining. Haven't spent much time enjoying the deck but I love it anyway!

 Monique, Roy and Brandi came up for Thanksgiving and brought me this cool chiminea for the deck as a Christmas gift. That helps!

Brandi

We tried to get a little hunting done but the deer and weather wouldn't cooperate. It was fun anway.

Sept 13th - Nov 3rd 2011

Left home on Sept 13th for Florida with a short stop in Louisiana to pick up a few things for Mom and do a little visiting. On the way there Monique called and told me Roy had had a stroke so I spent the couple of days there in the hospital with them. Roy doing well, I headed out to Florida.

Time in Florida was pretty quiet except for a 5 day stay in the hospital when Mom came down with an infection.

Left for home on Nov 1st and arrived here Nov 3rd.

June 14 - Sept 13

Planned on spending a few weeks at home then returning to Florida but had issues to tend to and ended up staying home till Sept 13. I managed to get one of my wish list projects done - a back deck!

My beloved Aunt Tut passed away on August 20th. She'll be greatly missed.

May 2nd - June 12

In Florida May 2 - June 12. Spent a week in the Keys, it was great!

April 12-30

Spent April 12th -30th at home. Three weeks of storms! Ugh! The last 2 days were nice and I busted my butt to do spring clean-up before I left again. Deer were happy I was here to fill the feeder.

March 14th - April 12th, 2011

I spent 4 weeks with Mom in Ft. Lauderdale. Mostly quiet time except a trip to Mayo Clinic March 28th-30th.
Mayo wants her to restart treatment so I'll be going back in a couple of weeks.
My grandmother (Lena Leger) died on April 5th at the age of 98. I wasn't able to drive to Louisiana in time for the funeral so when Mom flew out I headed home.

March 13th, 2011

If you haven't heard from me it's because my internet is broken and I couldn't get it repaired before I left. Nobody can get in.

My driveway is dug up while my neighbor removes the culverts and is installing a bridge -

I've been getting in the back way through his yard but last week I busted a tire on the rocks. Ugh!

Anyway, hopefully it'll be finished before I return home. I'm in Florida for a few weeks with Mom - and high speed internet!

March 4th, 2011

I finally finished up my Middle Woods project! (Except for hauling the firewood up to the woodshed, ha). This chore has been OBSESSING me and I was determined to finish it even if it killed me! Weather never seemed to cooperate when I had time, and when the weather was right, I didn't have time. Anyway.............Whew!

Found these old pics of what the Middle Woods looked like six years ago..............

OMG!

Yuck!

February 23rd, 2011

The weather's been warm! I've been spending my time cleaning and organizing the shop and cleaning up the middle woods. Two projects that never seem to get finished. The plan for the middle woods is for it to eventually be an extention of the backyard all the way down to the garden.

February 12th, 2011

This past week we've had THE most snow (10 inches) and THE coldest temps (0 degrees, 2 nights in a row) in the six and a half years I've lived here. Up till now, the coldest was 7 degrees and the most snow at one time was 8 inches.

It's beautiful out but me and Tux are getting cabin fever!

Starting now, we'll be thawing out. Temps in the 50s today and 60s (!!!) for the next two weeks. Lots to do outside and I can't wait to get started.

Feburary 5th, 2011

Sheesh. Have to look at my calendar to see what I've been up to since last post.

Had snow, then snow melted and some nice outside work days, more snow, snow.....tried to get down to Louisiana for Beetle's funeral (Jan 26) but had to wait on weather. Left home on January 29th, got stuck in Westlake for most of the time due to bad weather and finally gave up and came home the 3rd to get out before the ICE (!) hit Louisiana. Got home and the house warmed up just in time for more snow here. About 4" since thursday.

January 12th, 2011

Nothing exciting going on. It's COLD. 9 degrees last night and tonight it'll be 6! We won't be above freezing till the weekend. I'm spending my time hauling wood in and keeping the woodstove fired up. And catching up on indoor chores. (And wasting time on the internet. Ha.)

January 10th, 2011

First snow last night! Tux and I took a hike this morning...........

Lil Orphan at the corn feeder.

Look at all the deer tracks!

Trail to the back woods.

Looks COLD in the deer stand.

January 5th, 2011

Way late on this post!
Christmas in Louisiana was nice but too many people to visit and not enough time. Saw a lot of people but as usual forgot to take pictures most of the time. The only reason I have a few is I gave Alex (Eric's grandaughter, Brandi's daughter) my camera at the Christmas Eve party. Here's one of me with Eric, his kids, and one grandbaby -

Aubrey, Ashley, Lil Eric, Me, Eric, Brandi

As nice as it was to see everyone, I was glad to get home and start catching up. I'm soooo behind on projects.