LEO

 Wordless Wednesday

I have so many words today. My heart is breaking and I hope you will bear with me. Yesterday at approximately  10:28 A. M. this beautiful gentle giant went home to the Rainbow Bridge. It is hard to rest, to think, even the tears are hard to find.  But I can only find goodness in  the life of this virtuous boy who I loved to call LiLo. 

We had a rocky start. He was big, he was stubborn and I am strong willed. It was like fire and gasoline. But I loved him, I truly did. We just butted heads so many times. One  day  in 2016, I came around the corner and he was lying on our bed, always Avery's side, I said to him, what do you think your doing? He gave me that look, what does  it look like, I'm resting on this huge comfy bed! Leo loved his comfort. 

My favorite story of Leo is one morning, after we bought our new adjustable bed, Avery had left for work and I decided to get more sleep. I woke up to a feeling that someone was watching me.  When I opened my eyes, I was staring directly into those big amber colored Leo eyes!  We were literally nose to nose and he gave me that grin, ha, this bed is more comfortable then the old one! 

A gentle giant, a prince among the vast breeds of canines. He was a genteel boy, never allowing puppies to get underneath his feet. I was under those feets a time or two and he was big and strong but he had a kindness you do not often see in the world as much. 

As much as I would rather have him here, I would not want to see him suffer. I am grateful to the Almighty that his suffering was not long and he drifted off to dreams of chasing rabbits I am sure. Of running free with all his friends, Smokey, Bandit, Rose, Tinkerbell, Boots, Spats, Trek, Layla,  He will forever be missed by his precious brother Franklin when he comes to visit and search's the house and yard for Leo!.

Those long legs, huge paws and that precious, sweet and innocent face. He gave more love than most can accumulate in a lifetime. My heart hurts for our sweet boy Finn. He was at Leo's  side constantly. He loved to clean his ears. He ran the yard with him, he chased those rabbits, cause he learned from the master.  His passing was the most peaceful I have ever seen. He knew how loved he was. He knew each one of our faces, He was a people person so why would we leave him in his most trying hour.?

Monday night, Finn was up here on the love seat and he waited and watched that front door. Seeing his best buddy carried out by Zach and Nick and unable to to know what happened and where he was going made this boy so sad. 

The vet who came to our home was a good and very kind soul. He gave us all the space we needed to say our goodbyes. Even the pups were able to come up and love on this boy Leo .Heartbreaking as it was, we knew Leo needed this send off. I think he will stop at the Rainbow Bridge, see his perfect healthy body able to run and play and he will stop and remember all of us.

Goodbye my Lilo. I am going to be so sad without you. 

  And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or under  the earth , or on the sea,  and all the things in them, saying,  "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the  blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever. " Revelation 5:13

Wild and Wacky Thursday and More

 Yesterday was a wild and wacky day! We had flooding. What started out as a simple rainstorm turned into a torrential rain with water down into 2 of our basement windows, one in the bathroom close to the vanity and one in the laundry room. 

We spent a great deal of time holding buckets under the windows and catching what we could and using nearly every single towel in the house to clean up the mess. Now my phamily should be fully aware of why I have extra towels!

I had taken a day of rest since we had our two grandsons last night and they are busy boys! They were very good and even found a dry section of cement on the front porch to draw with the outdoor chalk. 

I am not sure if this rain is over but we hear warmer temps for the weekend.

Thankful Thusday

Thankful four of us were home and could take care of the flooding. 

Thankful knowing God said He would not destroy the earth with water again.

So whoever is making Him so angry, I pray they would knock it off! 

Ellen and her co host Lorianne select these questions that we fill in our answers to. Thank you ladies for your selections.

1. _______________is something I accomplished this year.

2. _______________is something I have yet to accomplish.

3. I would ___________if I found _____________________..\

4 Recently, _________________piqued my interest.

My answers:

1. Starting a great purge of things we no longer need is something I accomplished this year.

2. Continuing the purge is something I have yet to accomplish. 

3. I would jump for joy is I found a sack of money! (Our grandson Brody found a five dollar bill against our fence, inside the yard during the last rain we had and we told him it was his to keep.)\

4. Recently, studying other religions piqued my interest.

Feline Friday

Did you know a female cat can be referred to as a Queen or a Molly?

Aw...holding hands or rather paws! So cuddly and cute!

Pink Saturday

The pink house rue Cremieux Paris, France.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Wordless Wednesday 

Almoural Castle

#Portugal

Tuesday4 Happy Tuesday Maxine Cracks Me Up

 

Sunday, September 10, 2023

Your Garden

Its Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 once again and I thought it might be nice to talk about our gardens or house plants.  After all, houseplants are indoor gardens and fish aquariums can be water gardens.

1. Do you have a garden indoors or outdoors?   Houseplants count I think.  If not, why don't you have them? We did have potatoes and tomatoes this year. Rebekah and Zach grew potatoes in containers. They did not grow as large as they did a few years ago but they were happy with the little bounty. My tomatoes did not do as well, could have been all the rain. But next year, God willing, I will try a few new tricks. I just pluck the cherry tomatoes off the vine since I don't use any herbicides, pesticides or sprays I also have lots of house plants. My sister-in-law Lucy recently gave Avery, her brother, a  cutting from her 30 year old philodendron. It took off  and looks lovely! 

2. Have you visited Longwood Gardens or any of the large gardens and horticultural sites around the world or your state? Tell us about it. We have visited the Denver Botanical Gardens.  When our oldest was a little girl, about 3 years old, I went there with a friend. some friend. she was! My little girl picked a Colorado Columbine. It is illegal to pick them! I was mortified, my friend laughed and laughed until I said if they saw that I will walk away and tell them she is your child! Then it suddenly wasn't so funny anymore. They are very beautiful and in Las Vegas, you can visit the gardens in the Bellagio Hotel. It is gorgeous too. All the detail and artful designs make a person feels so serene. It is always fun to find unusual plants and flowers too.  There is no cost to visit the gardens at the Bellagio. 

3.  Most people really enjoy a little garden but I think we sometimes make too many excuses not to do things we really would enjoy.  Too busy, not enough space, etc.   But if we put our minds to it, anything is possible  Do you believe that? Absolutely! We have a large yard and half of it is filled with weeds as we could not contain them this year with all the rain we had. But we also have a baby rototiller and a huge one so we have a nice area where we could plants at least 4 kinds of veggies and another area for a larger patch of potatoes. You can not plant potatoes in the same area every year they have to be moved. 

 4. Ideally, what flowers, shrubs and trees do you want in your little garden real or imagined? We have a lilac bush but it has not liked the rain everyday so it is struggling and we need to feed it more manure. The  smelly stuff is the best to help them flourish. We have a bridal bush which I always have loved as my grandmother had one in her front yard. we have a lone rosebush that is doing well but I would have more of all these things. I like tulips and daffodils in the Spring too. 

Happy Tuesday

A face that should make you smile!

This sloth looks like he is a good photographer!

Oh Maxine.......

Aw...Mondays Love is.... Sparks

Aw...Mondays 

Kell's Library Dublin Ireland 

This love is...tells our yesterday story. We literally fell into bed like this after a super busy day. With Avery perfecting my mom's Texas Hash recipe she would be smiling at him. 

Sunday Wish It Were A Funday!

 A cool and breezy day with rain, lots of rain. But we worked hard from the time we woke up until we retired to watch some football. 

I should have snapped a few photos but Avery has perfected my mom's Texas Hash and he made a double batch today. He made a pot of green chili and we had burritos for dinner since we ate Texas Hash at lunch. 

We have so many projects and I am not sure when we will get them all done. 

We bought ourselves mattress toppers and  we have to wait until tomorrow to put them on the bed. They look comfy already and we are excited to try them out. 

September friends who have birthday's wishing you a blessed and beautiful day. My sister is born in September, along with our grandson Andrew, his son Jayden and my niece Kate and her youngest brother Matthew. 

A joy to know all of you whether September is your birth month or not. I loved this meme from Country Living so I wanted to share it here. 

Saturday: September 9, 2023

 Lots of prayer requests here. Today was the Scottish Festival at Estes Park but we did not get to attend it. Our son-in-law Zach is helping his mom move back to Michigan. They left yesterday and should be at her house shortly. Pray for safe travels when Zach comes home later this week. Also please pray for the Stubbs phamily as they really need an extra dose of prayer this week. Thank you. 

Rebekah is sad without Zach here. The weather was perfect for the festival but it was not meant for us to be there this year.

LuLu's Farm Chili Fest 2023

We had delicious brisket sandwiches and we were hungry so we devoured those. Rebekah had jalapeno mac n cheese with her's.
They had a really good band, Narrow Gauge and they were older guys and sang some great music.  Rebekah bought the funnel cake and we shared it.  You never outgrow those! We also had a giant lemonade which was fresh and delicious too.

Here they are cleaning the chilies. If you have sinus problems, you won't once you take a few breaths of these medium Hatch's chilies! We have to go to Pueblo if we want Pueblo Chilies. I may just buy some frozen Anaheim's so I can make a few dishes, Chili Relleno's The good news is, the chilies are usually available frozen year round and chilies are the one food you can thaw and refreeze. I thought that was an interesting fact from a lady selling them at the Farmer's Market last month.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Thank you for being here too. 

Feline Friday and Friendly Fill In;s with Pink Saturday

 Feline Friday

These kittens look like twins. I love that they are hugging.  Thank you Mimi for hosting Feline Friday.

FRIENDLY FILL IN'S

Ellen and her co host Lorianne each think of two of the sentences to share here. Please join the fun and answer these questions. I will be back tomorrow to answer mine.

1.  Take care of yourself or you won't be good for anything or anyone else.

2. My plans for September include finding some Fall foliage and putting green chilies up for the winter. 

3. Having several cooks in the house has made my life easier.

4. Life really complicates things. But you have to roll with the punches and do the very best you can. 

  Pink Saturday

I posted Pink Saturday twice at this blog. hahaha so if you aren't into pink houses, which I posted at the earlier post, maybe you like a touch of pink, on the door. This looks really pretty and inviting to me. Happy Pink Saturday. 

Chanel is pretty in pink too. 

Thankful Thursday Friendly Fill In's

 Thankful Thursday

Quick and simple Thankful Thursday - thankful for the healing in our house with colds, and sinus and asthma attacks. Thankful for all the delicious juice and smoothies we had to help us heal. Thankful that I was able to get better simply by doing all the old school things my mom did when I was a kid. Rest, Hydrate, Vicks, Juice, Steaming my face. It worked than and it still works today! I also used my essential oils for my headache and not only does it smell so good it goes a long way to control headache pain.

Several people that I know personally have healed things like eczema, sciatica, insomnia Using natural things like fruits and veggies and eating healthier.

Thankful to have knowledge to use all these things. I look back on my childhood when my mom made us take Castor Oil! Oh that awful stuff, but it gave us good health and mom always knew best.. When I had my children I called my mom first before the doctor. I had a friend who was advised by her pediatrician to lock her daughter in her room so she could not get out and let her cry herself to sleep at night. I asked her how many kids he had she replied, oh he doesn't, he's single! who you going to listen to, your mom who raised you right or some goofy doctor who read a text book!? Oh that doctor, he dated one of my great cousins who was a nurse, last I heard of him, he couldn't make a marriage commitment either.

and Isaiah said,  take a lump of figs, and let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover. 2 Kings 20:7

Other examples of using natural things to heal Psalm 51:7 

7 Purge me with hyssops, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to her joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine  iniquities.

NASB Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a gift, a little balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds,  Genesis 43:11

FRIENDLY FILL IN'S

Ellen and her co host Lorianne each think of two of the sentences to share here. Please join the fun and answer these questions. I will be back tomorrow to answer mine.

1. Always love your favorite people and pets. 

2. My plans for September include  going to the Chili Fest and getting chilies to freeze for the wintertime.

3.  Ordering groceries ahead of time and picking them up or having them delivered makes life a little easier.

4.  Things of this world really complicates things. People begin to find fault with others. Everyone wants their opinion to matter but they don't want to hear yours.

Here is some really good advice today: 

Pink Saturday

This Pinterest pink house find is located in Oakland(California) I presume. The person who snapped the photo started to snap photos and collect pink buildings, apartments, houses.  I am not sure I would like those steep steps but otherwise this house is super cute. I would love to peek inside.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Blackrock Castle Observatory

Tuesday4 Happy Tuesday Maxine Cracks Me Up

 

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Planning

Seeing ahead

Welcome back friends!

A wise man once said that most people fall into their lives.   They don't plan and carry out what they would like to do, they just fall into things through circumstances.      Others plan and prepare for life.  They know the kind of person they want to spend their life with, the kind of family, home  or job they wish to have and make a concerted effort to follow through.  

So what about you?

1. Did you plan to be where you are right now in life or did you just end up where you are? 

Yes and no. We had a plan but plans often fail or are upset with illness, job loss, and other life incidents.

2. What plans did you make for your future and what plans do you have for the future now or are you just marking time?

We had a plan but things change and you often do what you have to do. We have had many years of illness, job loss, more job loss, many sadness's so we are hobbling through this stage of life. But we have great faith and it has seen us through everything unpleasant and we hope it will continue.

3.  Do you live where you want to live or would you have done things differently when planning where to live?

We live in a relatively quiet area considering the times we live in. But would have loved to have built our own home . Something are not meant to be so I live by this Scripture:

In my Father's house there are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 NASB  Faith has been our stronger bond, link, and  it has not failed us and we pray we continue on this road. 

4.  What is planned for this coming Autumn? 

We would like to take a trip or two, somewhere to see the Fall foliage . We hope to go on the train in Georgetown as it is a great way to see all the beauty.  we love watching sports so we have that. 

But we have Hannah and Jake's baby shower next month so much planning still to do. Between Rebekah trying new tea sandwiches and her husband Zach makes different cup cakes and other tea shower goodies, we need an exercise bike. We usually have holidays at home. So that will probably remain the same. But with our new grandson due at the end of December in upstate NY hahaha I may fly out there and come back in the Spring thaw! as for reading as the weather cools off I will be able to settle in to some good reading. I like light reading so I don't usually read true crime  stories or  Stephen King type of books. I do like a good biography too. I do not read much drama as the world is already full of it.

• trips or plans with family or friends?
• vacations?
• holiday plans?\
• Reading list?

Thank you for joining in to make Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 a success.  

Tuesday4

Happy Tuesday

Prayers for our grandson Colton and Jacey and the kids. Their dogs got out of the yard and Atlas, the Great Dane puppy was hit and passed away. Colton was headed home from work when the gentleman that hit him called him. They waited for the police for 30 minutes and the man was visible upset but was on his way to work  People often wonder why we don't like the wild rabbits here. It is because they dig up our fences whether chain link or privacy and Atlas and probably Chester the yellow lab knock a board out and escaped. Chester and Jordy the smaller dog ran to their house when they saw the accident and were very sad too. It is so hard to lose a pet. Atlas was a real sweetheart. 

Aw...Mondays Love is... Sparks

Aw...Mondays 

I will be feeling better soon. I hope. Sinus and head cold. Avery has it now too. Too much a/c and hot weather. Bad combinations but this was so cute I had to share. If you drink coffee that is great too! I will be visiting soon too. SO much going on here and trying to feel better. All good too. Hannah and Jake will be back in October for the baby shower. Lots to do

My sweetheart, feeling crummy too and having to return to work Tuesday as his co worker is on vacation at his week. Its ok, they both work so hard and deserve their free time.  I am just sad for him as he has so much to go back too. Lots of work, he is grateful. It is just hard pulling the weight of two by yourself.  So as usual love is.... says it all.

Autumn teaches us the beauty of letting go.  Growth requires release. It's what the trees do. Ka'ala @alohakaala

For Sparks....

PINK SATURDAY

 Pink Saturday

Had a plan for this Pink Saturday and then heard of the passing of one of my favorite people, Jimmy Buffet. So here I go:

As the sun rose in the skies, I hope the angels were ushering you into the presence of the Almighty. Sail on sailor. 

                                                               JIMMY BUFFET

                                                     1946-2023

As a young woman and meeting my husband for the first time March 9, 1976 I was listening to Jimmy sing his song, Come Monday, which he wrote for his lovely wife. I knew that song was meant for Avery & I and I hung on to that hope until we married 8 years later.

Thanks for all the wonderful music that made us happy even when we were sad. Thanks for your life well lived and your generous and kind and crazy heart. 

May you sail with angels today in eternity.

HELLO SEPTEMBER