A Little Halloween

 Mama's little witch on the dining table. 

I'm still trying to find the right spot for a wreath on the new front door.  In the meantime, I filled PJ's birdcage with some pumpkins and topped it with an old crow.

September

I loved this picture of Jennifer and Isaac in front of all those beautiful gourds and pumpkins.  I'd love to go to this festival with them next year! Our baby is growing and will be here in another couple of months <3 p="">

Just back from our fall trip to Kentucky Lake.  We got to visit with Laura and it was so good to see her and visit again.  And I'm so proud of her--she's lost 100 pounds!!  YaY!

Mark caught lots of fish this year, but not when I was with him to get pictures.  What's with that??  Anyway, he got lots of fishing time in and the sunsets were so beautiful.

A Little Tour of the House

Posting a few pictures here of the new house and garden for my mom and sister to see.  Can't wait til they visit!

 V's couch, from the 60's,  now in our living room :)

New farmhouse table for the dining room.  We have two more chairs on order, they should be here by Thanksgiving.

Grandaddy's thermometer just outside the back door. I am still looking for a good place to move it to, there's a time in the afternoon when the sun hits it full on and I don't want it to have to work overtime. 

Just off the back deck, a big pot of yellow lantana with black & blue salvia under the hummingbird feeder.

Next year the flower beds will get a make-over.  The previous owners left this beautiful bird feeding station.

The new fence and view of the pond.

Fishing

 

If you look closely, you might see Kyle's blue hair :)

And we didn't fish, but Betsy was willing to take a picture with me.  She's got a new fun hair color too :)

First Day of School 2019

Library Visits

For the first time since I left Lexington in the 1980s, I have a library card.  One of the perks of  living in Chatham and it's such a nice library too!

The first book that I checked out was Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl.  I heard her talking on a podcast (QWERTY with Marion Roach) and I knew I wanted to read her book.  Looking forward to this new batch :)

State Fair 2019

 Betsy wanted to head to the rides first thing ;)

Betsy, cousin Aleigha, and Mark on something called The Guitar.  Yikes!

We did do a few other things too.  Here Betsy is meeting the butter cow for the first time.

I wouldn't mind getting my face painted one day.  They looked so cute!  Plus we got to sit in an air conditioned building while they had it done! 

And the famous pork chop on a stick :)

July Happenings

Jennifer and Isaac came to visit in July, it was great to have them with us.  Rachel took this sweet picture, we should have taken another one with her in it too. 

Kyle loves to play chess.

At the ballgame.

This trip to the ballgame was bittersweet for sure.  July 31st would have been Judson and Rachel's 15th wedding anniversary.  Last year Judson took us all to the ballpark as a father's day gift to Mark. We had a wonderful time together this year, but we all missed Judson so much.  We're making it through day by day by remembering the happy times we had and making new memories together.

Jennifer and Isaac made it back to California.  This Thanksgiving is bringing a new baby to love.

July report

 If you click on the picture, you might see Skye and Mark walking over on the other side of the pond.  Our new Canada Garden is still waiting for a fence, so we walk the park several times a day.

 We went to St Louis and Mark got fitted for a backpack!  I'm excited for him to get to hike the Appalachian Trail. 

Rachel and our Betsy girl.  Love love

 And more beautiful wedding pictures

San Antonio Botanical Garden

Our third Keto Con trip!  We went a few days early and visited San Antonio.  They have a beautiful botanical garden.  I loved these little vignettes of home landscapes:

Cottage Garden

 Texas Homestead (I didn't catch the name of this one, but it looks Texas!)

Spanish Courtyard 

A lawn of English ivy.

They also featured lots of plants that I've never seen growing before.  And while they aren't in their natural habitat, it was fun seeing these:

Avocado

Cashew

Coffee.  I've always wanted to see coffee growing!

Macadamia

Pineapple

 

And somehow I lost track of the shot of the olive trees!