Earth Day and a birthday!

I left Larry at home today on Earth Day cutting grass and replacing more of the fence and finishing up a chest-of-drawers that he's been working on and I spent some of the day down home in Montezuma for our Katie's third birthday party.  Katie loves Minnie Mouse so a Minnie party it was, complete with cake, cupcakes and pizza!  She got Minnie clothes and toys and Larry and I gave her a Minnie Mouse sofa!  She was so cute opening her stuff.  

I just love this picture of her when she saw Minnie on that little sofa.

Here she is tooting her birthday horn!

Clumsy me, I busted my camera while I was there today.  The strap came loose and I dropped my camera on the concrete step.  10 seconds earlier and it would have landed on the soft dirt and been all right.

Owwee.  Hopefully we can get it fixed.  I finished the birthday party taking pictures with it and they all turned out good so it still works, you just can't see the picture.  I probably won't forget hearing that craaaaackkk any time soon.  It sounded like my ankle felt when I broke it.  Owwee.

I came home and finally got my little garden planted.  I decided to try container gardening this year so I planted my 'maters and peppers in a pot and I planted zinnias in the middle.  In two other pots, I planted my lavender, sage and rosemary.

I still have flower seeds to plant --- wildflowers, zinnias, marigolds and mums and I even got a pack of catnip to plant in a pot for Tabbie Hoffman.

Maybe tomorrow... 

Goodness, what a February!

We have surely had a FULL February!!  Our friend, Stephanie, came to visit the first part of the month.  We so loved having her here again!  We enjoyed her company, her cooking, her talent, and Banjo and Tabbie Hoffman enjoyed having her here during the day and snuggling with her at night.  In fact, Banjo started sleeping in the guest bed after she left because he missed her.  Awww!  

We celebrated Ami's birthday at Olive Garden here in town on the 4th and it was so great to have everybody together.  We had a blast!  

My baby sister is 40.  So incredibly hard to believe.  Life is so short, getting shorter every day, so we need to make the most of every day.  Love on the ones you love today because tomorrow is not promised.

I took a couple of days off work to show Steph around a bit.  We went to the Museum of Aviation, Wilson's Bakery and thrifting one day.  I was checking out at the thrift store and all of a sudden, I heard this beautiful music playing!  I looked around and saw Steph sitting at a piano, just playing away.  Stephanie is a musician, after all, and has her own band, so naturally if there's a piano nearby, she's gonna play it!  It was such a treat.  She had the whole store in awe.  We went to a couple of really good estate sales on another day and there was a piano in one of the houses.  Sure enough, Stephanie played!  One of the estate sale employees did a video of her playing and she said she was going to show it to the lady of the house, who is now in a nursing home.  She told us she'd be happy to know that somebody was playing her piano.

I love this picture I took of Stephanie at an estate sale down in Perry that Friday.  I bought this plastic flamingo and when Stephanie left here, she flew to Cancun, Mexico to bird watch the flamingos!  We joked that this was her first flamingo sighting on her trip.  Ha! 

We took her back to Atlanta on the 12th, to a hotel, since her flight to Mexico was really, really early on the 13th.  We stopped in Juliette and had lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe (fried green tomatoes, of course!).  Steph and I had the Bennett's BBQ sandwich and I declare, that doggone Frank Bennett is still delicious after all these years!

We walked McCrackin Street, browsing in the little gift shops and I swear, once, we caught a glimpse of the bee charmer.  I'm sure of it.  It may sound silly, but every time I'm there, I can feel the spirits of Idgie and Ruth.  I just love that story so much!

After we'd found some vintage goodies and sampled some fudge, we left Juliette and headed north to High Falls State Park.  It was a beautiful day to climb some rocks and put our feet in the freezing cold water.  Well, maybe it was just me doing the feet thing.  Larry and Stephanie climbed the rocks.  :)

Stephanie and I took this selfie in the car on the way to Atlanta.  It pretty much summed up how we were feeling.  It's never goodbye though, just see ya later! We're already looking forward to having her come see us again.

Larry's and my 18th wedding anniversary was the 13th and we'd already opened our presents to each other AND our Valentines.  We're awful.  We do that at birthdays and Christmas, too.  We just can't wait.

Larry got me (us) a Google Home and we have had the best time with that thing!

We play music and make shopping lists and play trivia and get her to tell us jokes and sing songs to us and we get the weather forecast every day before we go out.  It's awesome.  I'm trying to get "her" to say "I love you" and her responses to me telling her I love her (and I do it every day!) are getting more and more friendly.  She was saying things like "you're not so bad yourself" and now she says things like "I love helping you, even more than I love searching."  

She's playing hard to get.



Larry has always gotten me traditional anniversary gifts and for the 18th, you're supposed to give porcelain.  He found this beautiful girl for me at an estate sale.  Isn't she so elegant??
 

 

He also gave me this BLUE Fire-King relish dish!  The blue is kinda rare and I'd never seen one in the wild (only online, eBay and various Pyrex/Fire-King groups) and I was tickled to get it!!  I have a couple of the white ones and a couple of deviled eggs trays to match but I didn't have a bluuuuuue!

We've just celebrated all month.  Our anniversary, Valentine's Day and Larry's birthday, which was Friday.  I got a new piece of Pink Daisy Pyrex and a pretty blue Fenton hobnail vase, too, and I gave him a remote control drone with an HD camera so that he can take aerial photos!  I also got him the last two ghost division Army patches that he needed to complete that set and some new clothes to run in.  He gets up every morning now and runs for an hour and a half.  Bless it.  

We went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant on our anniversary and Larry had set it up for the waiter to bring me a rose and card during our dinner.  Soooooo dang sweet!!

Yesterday, we went to Massee Lane Gardens down in Fort Valley to continue our birthday celebration.  It was such a gorgeous day with even more gorgeous blooms!  We spent almost two hours walking and taking pictures and smelling the flowers.  Well, maybe that was just me smelling the flowers.

And when we got home, we found that one of the little tulip bulbs that I bought at Christmas and planted on MLK Day last month had bloomed while we were gone!  I've never grown tulips before and I am so happy to have this little one.

Banjo is THREE!

Yesterday, we celebrated Thanksgiving AND Banjo's birthday!  He went with us to Mama and Daddy's for the day and had lots of turkey and ham and love and cuddles from everybody.  He was worn out and passed OUT as soon as we got home.

We got him a puppy dog cake from Wilson's Bakery and yesterday morning, we helped him eat it.

He had a little taste off my fingers.

Ham bones are MUCH better than cake anyway!

Tabbie Hoffman was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and didn't partake of the birthday festivities. 
 

Happy Third Birthday, our sweet Banjo!!  You have brought us so much joy and laughter and we love you so much!!

Tabbie Hoffman is FOUR!

We celebrated first thing this morning with catnip-filled toys and coffee.  Well, maybe Larry and I had the coffee.

I left the blind up in the living room so he could have his sunbeam all day and he was allowed to have all the treats he wanted.

I think he loved his toys!  For about a minute, anyway.  He got a new "kicker" and some cute little catnip tea bags.  

He's had a stubborn little case of feline acne that we've been fighting for a while now.  I'm doing everything the vet told us to, it just doesn't want to let my sweet boy go.  :(  We're scrubbing with Stridex pads and peroxide, washing with Dial soap, washing bowls in hot soapy water every day and we took away his carpeted scratching post.  If anybody out there has any ideas, I'd be grateful to hear 'em!

He's also found a new little hidey-hole that he likes.  Right outside the mudroom window.  

Here's Banjo looking out...

This picture just cracks me up!!  

Happy, happy birthday, Sweet Tater!  You are FOUR years old already!!  Time sure has flown and you've been nothing but pure joy.

My Almost-Birthday Goodies!

Larry has left little presents on my birthday tea cart this week.  And both days he had to ask me what that was on my tea cart.  Duh!  I understand yesterday but today, too??  Golleeee.

Yesterday there was this amazing piece of Biblical history!  It's a widow's mite and was struck by hand in Zero A.D., the year believed to be the year Jesus was born.  So it circulated during His life!!  It might have even been one of the two!!!  That would be so awesome.  In case you don't know the story, it's in Luke and Mark but here's Mark's take on it:

Mark 12:38-44  King James Version (KJV)

³⁸ And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
³⁹ And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
⁴⁰ Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
⁴¹ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
⁴² And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
⁴³ And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
⁴⁴ For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Jesus was not at all impressed with all those rich folks throwing money in, money that was really just a portion of their wealth and He knew they were pretty much just showing off.  But He was very happy with this poor widow woman gave every bit she had, willingly and without hesitation.  I think my little mite is one of her two.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  :)

 
Today, there was this adorable vintage bookends set with a little boy holding an ice cream cone and a little girl holding a present looking like they're going to a birthday party and they're kissing!!  

Sooooo cute!  I probably won't have the heart to put tiny books between them and separate them. 

These are my presents for tomorrow!  He let me open one tonight, though.  I'll give y'all one guess...

Yep!  Pyrex!!  A bowl with handles in the Old Orchard pattern.  I only had the one piece in that pattern.  Yay!!  Can't wait to see what's in the other boxes!

My Birthday Tea Cart update, some vintage love and a turkey!

Ten more days till my birthday!  Here's my tea cart today.

Some of the things I've added are a vintage white beaded cake plate that I picked up for two dollars at a moving sale; my favorite book from my childhood, Peggy and Me, that my daddy used to read to me; a very old (1948!) birthday rhyme book that I also got for two dollars at an estate sale; a vintage 1970's Florida Bird Orange Bank that replaced the one I had as a child (I found it on eBay months ago) and a birthday clown that Larry and I found at Smiley's last weekend.

And these two little girl figurines.  The one of the right holding the presents is the most darling little thing!!  I got her at an estate sale along with her sister who's holding a broom, both of them for $4.  They were made in Japan by Ucagco in the 1950's.

Here's her sister.  I put her in the window sill over the kitchen sink.  She reminds me of me, always cleaning something.  She looks happy about it, though!  :)

I finally, finally, finally got me a vintage granny square afghan to go on the back of my sofa.  My life is complete now.  Can you believe $10 at an estate sale??  Sho' was!  It's a beaut, too.  I think it was made and then just placed in a closet for 40 years because it's perfect.

I picked up this vintage GE hand mixer at that same moving sale for SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS.  It's avocado green, my favorite vintage color.  Avocado green draws me like a moth to a flame every time.  This mixer was a wedding gift for the couple having the sale and they've been married 39 years.  It's in excellent condition and every single speed works beautifully.  I still can't believe it.  

I got this pretty trivet at a yard sale/estate sale/cleaning out Grandma's house sale basically for free.  The grandson let me have this trivet, a beautiful vintage yellow floral sheet and two pillowcases, two precious Cannon honest-to-goodness MADE IN THE USA towels and two wash cloths, a Napco milk glass candy dish and a Japanese Satsuma vase, all for $2.  TWO DOLLA.

 

Here's one of the towels!  Soooo pretty.  You just can't find towels like this anymore.  Unless you go to somebody's grandma's house.

 

And here are the two wash cloths.  I always squeal when I see Cannon on a tag!!  That's that pretty yellow flowered sheet hanging in the background.

 

We got this giant blow-up turkey at that same moving sale for $8!  I'm so glad Larry saw it because I had walked right on past him, headed to the kitchen stuff.  I cannot wait to put this thing in the yard.  As soon as the Halloween stuff comes down, Tom is going up!

I think Larry's glad he saw Tom, too!

Tabbie Hoffman is THREE!

Today is Tabbie Hoffman's birthday!  Well, it's the day we celebrate his birth since we don't know exactly when he was born.  

He had a pretty good birthday!  He had a strawberry for breakfast (he doesn't really eat them, he just licks them) and he danced with Mama in the kitchen to The Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira" (and he even got dipped!).  He got some really cool presents, too!  He got a new scratching post, a new toothbrush and toothpaste and some new treats to try.

He rolled around in the sunshine.  

He hid in the shrub bushes.

He saw this cute little bird that he really wanted to be friends with.

He found a new hidey-hole under the gardenia bush.
 

He played with his brother out by the clothesline.

And then he came in and laid down on the cool kitchen tile.  It was hot out there!

Happy Birthday, Sweet 'Tater!  I'm so glad you found me.

So long, February!

This month is gone already!  Shortest month of the year and probably the coldest one we're gonna get.  I hope!  We missed the snow by about a hundred miles and I am not mad.  It's been cold, though.  Stupid cold for me and I'm ready to welcome March and a little sunshine! 

We have been very busy around here!  Larry got a new job (thank you, Jesus!) and right now, it's six days a week.  We are grateful, though he is tired.  If you think about it, say a prayer for him please. 

Larry's birthday was the 24th and we celebrated pretty much all week.  Starting on Sunday, the 22nd, in Atlanta with Rhiana, Juan and the girls.  They threw him a surprise party and I played my part, telling him we were going up there to fix a few things around their house.  He did fix a couple of things but he also had German chocolate birthday cake, strawberry shortcake ice cream, blue and white birthday balloons, an awesome gift of an in-ground basketball system and all the hugs and squeals he could stand from his girls.  Since I couldn't actually tell him we were having a party, he made plans to meet some old friends while we were in Atlanta so after we left the kids, we drove to Cumberland Mall to The Cheesecake Factory for a reunion and another birthday celebration.  I had never been to The Cheesecake Factory so when Larry asked me to pick the place, it was an easy choice!  I got a slice of heaven in their Lemon Raspberry cheesecake and when we sneaky-sneak asked them to come out and sing "Happy Birthday" to him, I ordered a slice of their German chocolate for them to put the candle in.  Them folks know how to make cheesecake!

On the night before his actual birthday, I baked him another German chocolate cake (it IS his favorite, after all!) and decorated the living room with streamers, balloons and I even got a small pinata and filled it full of candy and hung it up with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner.  He was genuinely surprised when he came home because we'd said no more cake and no more party, blah blah blah.  Sneaky-sneak.  That's what you do, right?  I played along and then did what I wanted to do anyway. Ha!

I was sick with a sinus headache on his birthday (but NOTHING LIKE LAST YEAR OMG) but after swallowing a handful of sinus medicine and Excedrin, I was feeling pretty good by noon so we went to Lowe's and got a couple of white porch rockers for our front porch.  Larry had those things together in 20 minutes!  They look so nice on the porch.

I can't wait to get some hanging baskets of pretty flowers and ferns and a big old bowl of peas to shell.  :)

Since tomorrow is March, I took down my Valentine tea cart and started putting together my Easter one.  This is what I have so far.

I just love this little guy.