Summer Means Beauty ~ July 29, 2016

Summer has been sultry, beautiful and amazing! How have YOU been, my friends?

You know I never tire of taking photographs of all that goes on around me in my day to day life.

And you know that nature is especially my favorite subject.

But every once in a while, my family gets tossed in there, too!

Here's just a glimpse of my world over the last month or so.....

Checkers taking an afternoon nap

Lots of different butterflies visit my butterfly bush

Simple beauty in my favorite glass "vase"

Our dilapidated shed is still beautiful to me

One of our lovely chestnut trees

This female and her mate frequented my feeders every evening

My front porch in June

Sweet Joanna

 So glad I've had this chance to catch up with you!

~ ♥ ~

Outdoor Attraction ~ March 8, 2016

It's almost 60 degrees here in my neck of the woods. Despite the gray clouds that have rolled in making it a bit dreary, I couldn't resist opening the windows.

Oh, my goodness ~ what a delight! That breeze, those birds, that wonderful smell of SPRING!

I think the animals felt my sentiments exactly.

What do you think? ☺

© KMC

© KMC

A Pleasant Walk ~ January 15, 2016

Today was a pretty perfect, mild winter day. Again! I stepped outside with Joanna in tow to survey our 2 acre yard and perhaps get a good picture or two. It seems like nature came alive today, thinking it was spring! The birds......

Delightful Decorations

In the recent unusually warm weather of November, Joanna and I worked on getting the lights strung outdoors. Well, I worked. She relaxed and kept the strings untangled for me. 

And now that Thanksgiving is officially over, I have given in to letting those little lights shine! 

 This year I actually broke down and purchased battery operated flickering candles to put in each of our windows. Since they're LED lights, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these pretty little lights will give me over 10,000 hours of use. Yep. So that's what sold me on the purchase of these cute little candles! So far, my entire family is loving the cozy look they add to our house at night.

Now for some snow ~ just a little bit ~ to make things even cozier looking!

 

Indoors, I've begun a few bits of Christmas decoration here and there.

I think my favorite is this big jingle bell ornament which I paired with an oversized golden snowflake, and a beautiful red "believe" ornament. 

 I love all the colors up against the backdrop of my Tuscan yellow kitchen wall. 

Next are some of the wrapped "gifts" I have decorating the living areas of our home. But these aren't just any wrapped gifts, they're pictures I already had on display, but are now wrapped as pretty presents! It was a neat idea I recently saw on a decorating segment of a show I was watching. My family has given a big thumbs up on this new idea. ☺

And, of course, there's my lighted pine garland, pretty white lights strung under the kitchen cabinets and some strands beautifully lighting up the shelves of my corner hutch.... Everything is coming along nicely.

However, Charlie has informed me that all his friends are already putting up their Christmas trees, and apparently feels we're not "keeping up with the Joneses"! BIG GRIN. So, here's to getting our tree put up soon, and more on its decorations coming up in a post on another day!

~ ♥ ~

Little Things

After lots of rain, we finally had some sunshine.

 I LOVE SUNSHINE!

So, Romeo and I went out for a walk. 

 The ground was soggy, but the air got muggy!

I enjoy watching the many Orioles who visit my feeding station. I've recently added grape jam in a dish for them, and they eat it like crazy! I'm so glad my friend suggested it to me.

Joanna didn't mind at all posing next to the daisies I planted. They're now on display in my front flowerbed.

She's such a good girl!

I think this Cardinal was trying to tell me he wanted to have a turn at driving our John Deere! :)

Every day there's activity and adventure going on all around me. 

~ ♥ ~

 

Isn't it wonderful to enjoy life from your own happy little world?

A Week In My Life

IN PICTURES.....

The week started out cold and snowy

And although the large snowflakes painted a rather beautiful picture, just let me say, "I'm done with winter!"

I think even this little guy agrees....

 I gave in to the desire of sinking my fingers deep into some soil, and replanted my Ivy plant, which I know feels much happier now.

The new pot gives it so much more room to grow! Joanna was interested at first, but then decided it felt much nicer laying down to take a nap. 

 

As you can see, she doesn't get excited about too much! She's just an easy going girl. ☺

I have no idea why she looks so guilty here....maybe she knew something I didn't!

Ummm, maybe she knew Ziva was up on the kitchen counter, which I generally do not ever allow!

Though in all fairness to poor Ziva, these last several months have been quite upsetting to her once peaceful existence...A new home, loud sounds (because of all the hardwood floors), strange smells, and a BIG BLACK DOG NAMED JOANNA! The first time Ziva realized a strange, new intruder had entered our domain, she nearly jumped out of her skin! Down into the basement she bolted, and claimed it as her own NO DOGS ALLOWED zone. She has stayed down there for weeks on end, only surfacing to the upstairs once she's sure the big, black dog is asleep for the night in "brudder's" room!

However, I still scolded her for being on the counter nonetheless....And would you believe she had the audacity to sass me back?! Yepper, she did. And I actually caught it in digital format ~ Lol!

See? She really is sassing me back, telling me all about why she thinks she should be able to stay up on that counter where it's safe.... Darn! How can I resist such a cute face?!

On one of the nicer days, I took a walk through the back yard.

Our Chestnut tree looked pretty with the blue sky as its backdrop...

And the sun that day looked like a pretty pink bubble when I took a picture of it...

A pair of birds are taking up residence in the birdhouse. I think they're Bluebirds, but I've not been fortunate to be up close enough to see who exactly the new family is. Can't wait to find out, and watch the activity as the season progresses!

When I came back inside, I found Checkers enjoying the sunshine, too.

 and Miss Ziva was back into a different kind of mischief!! 

"Hello, birdies! Wanna play?"

"NO, Ziva!! Get down!!

So she gave one last, longing look before hopping down into a nearby chair.....but not without keeping her eye on those interesting little birds! Lol!!

~ ♥~

 

Oh, dear.....I'm not sure what we're going to do with this girl now that she's gotten her courage back!

Everything New

If you've been looking for me over the last several months, don't worry. There are many days I was looking for myself, too!! ~SMILE~

Well, where do I start? First things first.

This is a brand new year. Happy 2015!!!

source

I wish each and every one of you a year full of every good thing that fulfills all of your wildest hopes and dreams.....and everything in between! I think top on my list for personal desires would be a year that is peaceful, for Dean's business(es) to be comfortably busy, but not crazy busy, (there's a huge difference I've learned in this last year) and most importantly, for all to be well with every single one of us in this big family of mine. I just want the Hand of the Lord to be with each and every one of us, and yes, YOU, too!

One of the main reasons I have been missing in action here on my blog is due to the fact that we've moved! While I had been looking to move earlier on in the year, that idea had come to an end when we kind of hit a roadblock. Then, near the end of the summer I happened upon an ad for lovely home that Dean, Becca, Charlie and I fell in love with......AND here we are!!

We have spent a great deal of time cleaning, moving into, maintaining and now, finally, beginning to do a bit of indoor work we've been anxious to start on! Little by little this unattended to house is now being tended to with lots of tender loving care and becoming a beautiful, cozy home for my family and I. Oh, and all the animals! Which is where the next big change comes in. And one more animal.

A huge blessing, and answer to prayer, came about quite unexpectedly. Kind of like our move. (I guess 2014 was a year for the unexpected!) My son, Charlie, who had previously chosen to live with his father, after 3 years, decided it was time to come home. How wonderful! But oh, so many changes. And court. And attorneys. And money. BUT OH, SO INCREDIBLY NICE!! And we inherited another dog. Lovely, sweet Joanna came home to live, too. ~SMILE~

Here is Charlie, and his first true love, Joanna. He just adores her! And he is her whole world. Their relationship is such a beautiful thing...... ☺

Well, my post will have to come to an end for this evening, but I have so much more to share with you! I hope you won't get tired of pictures, because taking pictures is a big part of what I do here in our new home! Our yard is just so lovely ~ all 2 acres of it. (In spite of the 2 hours it takes to mow it!) And the trees. And the birds. And the wildlife. And our home ~ both inside and out. Oooh, the ideas and dreams I have for making this house into our sweet and welcoming cozy retreat! I hope you'll enjoy this adventure with me.

Goodnight, my friends! I'll meet you right back here real soon! ♥