It's Snowing

On the morning of December 11th, I woke to find snow. Now most people wouldn't blink twice at seeing snow falling, but here in the deep south, its a miracle, especially in early December. Here are some pictures of our little town and school. I'm not sure who had more fun, the teachers or kids. Most of our kiddos had never seen snow before. The last time it snowed enough to stick to the ground was in 1988.

A corner of my rose garden around 6 am.

A view of my neighbor's house. See the snowflakes??

Same view a bit later, the snow is getting more dense on the ground. At this point it was hardly snowing anymore, but little did I know more was on the way.

Our house. No snow under the canopy of the oak tree.

My version of a snowman. I made that before I left for work, drove 8 miles to work and it stayed in place. In fact it stayed until the sun came out around 10:30.

On the drive to work.

The quad at school. What a beautiful sight.

The children building a snow man. One of our teachers from France had to show them how to build it. Another one of the french teachers and some of our students.

Of course true to form, it snowed in the morning and by that afternoon the sun was shining, the snow was gone and the temps were on the rise. By the following afternoon it was pushing 70 degrees.

Got My First Phone Call

Matt was allowed a phone call Thanksgiving Day. It was sooooo good to hear his voice. He sounded okay. By okay I mean not depressed or down OR not really floating on Cloud 9 either. Just kinka oaky. He told us that the food was not bad but not Mom's and he told us that they were going to the Gas Chamber today. I have heard some pretty rough stories about the gas Chamber. For anyone not knowing about this. Its when you are placed in a room and the Drill Instructors release Tear Gas. The recruits are instructed to remove the masks for 1 minute. My Daughter-in-law experienced this when she was a recruit. She said this gas irritates the mucous membranes, therefore your eyes cry, your nose runs and your throat feels like its on fire. Her words were when you come out, you are "Not a pretty sight". Matt did say he was excited about this and that afterwards they would be going to the rappelling tower. I'm not sure what that is but I know he was excited.

My yard looks horrible. I have not had the time really work in it since I went back to school. It seems like every weekend is taken up doing something else. So here is a shot of the greenhouse in winter. My poor angel's trumpet is hanging on.

Below is a shot of some plants in the greenhouse and how they are faring on this last weekend in November.

My watering system in the temporary hibiscus house plus a couple of blooms..

Think this is Red Snapper. Couldn't see the tag Mrs. Jimmy Spangler

Poor baby girl. She got an infection in her leg and we had to wrap it up to keep the swelling down and so she wouldn't keep licking the sores. So looks so pitiful.

Tomorrow I will try to post the pictures of my Christmas Village for 2008. Stay tuned.

14 days and counting

It's been fourteen days since Matt entered bootcamp. I finally got a letter from him yesterday and he sounds good. He says he misses everyone and is sore, falling asleep while standing and missing Mom's cooking but he doesn't regret his decision much. He has made just a few comments about how hard it is and how everyone was right about how hard it is going to be, but he wants the end result which is to be a Marine. His close friend, Kenny, joined with Matt under the buddy program and they are now considered Rack Mates. Matt says Kenny is taking it harder and has yet to receive any mail. I am kicking myself in the butt, because I should have been sending Kenny mail all along also. Kenny has a strange family life. He is a year older than Matt but was living here and there before entering the Marines. It was almost like he had no family. Neither he nor Matt ever spoke of them. I figured there was a falling out of some kind, but the day before they left for bootcamp, at the little goodbye party I had for both young men, his mother and grandparents from both sides come to the party. Strange, very Strange. So, as you can see from the ticker at the top, two months, two weeks and five days till I see my son again. The time can't go fast enough. Off to write another letter to him.

A tough day for me

Today, October 26, 2008, my youngest son, my baby will leave for Marine Boot Camp and I am soooo very sad but also very very proud of him.

This is so very hard for me to know that your child is leaving the nest for good, and placing himself in harms way for a cause. I can only pray that he keeps himself safe.

We need to bring him to the recruiting office this morning around 10 AM and he will head out for New Orleans around 12. He will spend the rest of the day in New Orleans today and then board a plane for Parris Island, South Carolina in the Morning. Thirteen weeks without any phone calls from my son is going to be tough and worse than that will be the quiet in this house.

Matt has been the epitome of perpetual motion. From the moment he opened his eyes to the moment he closed them each day, he was non-stop action. When I fall asleep each night it is to the rhymthic chant of "Momma, Momma, Momma" He has always been so inquisitive about everything and wanted to share his entire world with me. "Momma come see" "Momma come play with me", "Momma why..." Boy I'm going to miss those words.

Here are a few pictures of him as he is today. That mop of hair will be gone this morning before he leaves for the recruiting office, then will be even goner once he reaches his final destination.

This is from a photo shoot he did this summer for a local photographer. Some of these pictures are now part of thier advertising materials.

Above is a shot of him on his 18th Birthday which was in August. He turned 18 on the 18th, which was a Monday, and by that Friday, August 22nd, he had sworn in as a Marine Recruit.

This final picture of of Matt and his Marine Buddy Kenny. They joined as buddies and will hopefully spend all of boot camp as buddies. They will be bunk mates and pretty much do everything as a team. Hopefully they can remain together throughout the next 13 weeks. See that long piece of hair haning on the left of Matt's head, I will have the pleasure of buzzing that off later this morning. Not sure if you can see, but Kenny has piercing in his lower lip. I think they are called "snake bites" well that too will be gone by 10:00 am today. Kenny buzzed his hair a few weeks ago, said he needed the time to adjust. Anyway, I wish both of these young men the Best of Luck in this new chapter of their lives and hope and pray they remain safe for the next 4 years. I love you Matt

After effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike

Well its been a whirlwind month. Right on the heels of Hurricane Gustav came Hurricane Ike. We had wind and rain with Ike, but it was a bit too far west to do much damage. All the tree limbs that did drop to the ground were the ones broken by Gustav that were still hanging in the trees. We had evacuees from Bridge City, Texas come to stay with us. They went home 5 days later to 2.5 feet of water in their house. They lost everything. The insurance company wants them to itemize everything they lost. Can you believe this. They had to take pictures of everything and put a replacement value down. I'm talking about every book, knick knack, picture frame, piece of furniture, utensil, pot, lawn chair, every article of clothing, jewelry, make up, EVERYTHING!!! They did this without electricity, then had to worry about looters. What the insurance company wanted was for everything to be taken out of their home and place outside so they could look the items over. Well, wouldn't you know it, people would go by in the middle of the night and take your stuff. Thank goodness most had pictures of their stuff. We took pictures of our belongings before Gustav, just in case anything happened, and I can tell we DID NOT take pictures of everything. We took pictures of our big ticket items, outdoor workshops, the major woodworking tools, furniture, tv, large appliances, I took pictures of the contents of each room, but I did not take pictures of every item in my house. Well that's a lesson learned for us. Then to make matters worse for this couple, the company that T was working for, suffered too much damage from the storm surge and had to file bankruptcy, so the name lost his job. Lost his home and his job because of Hurricane Ike. That's a crushing blow to anyone and lest I forget, he is in remission for bladder cancer and had just had surgery on his shoulder three weeks before the storm. All I can say its there is now way but up for this couple. Through it all they both still have their sense of humor. Only good thing to come out of this mess was the fantastic deal we got on a generator. My husband's nephew works for an air conditioning company who also sells large back up generators. Right after Hurricane Gustav, several came in to their warehouse that were damaged. The company sold them at a fraction of the cost. We purhased a 3,600.00 generator for 1,500.00. We are talking big enought that I will not lose electricity as long as we have propane. The damage was really just cosmetic, a dent about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide to the exterior housing of the unit. I'm excited. Now its to get it hooked up before the next season begins in June. I will be very relieved when the 2008 Hurricane Season is finally over.

Hurricane Visitors

During Hurricane Gustav, I spend a lot of time in my sunroom watching the winds blow. During the entire storm, I had hummingbirds visiting a feeder that hangs on the corner of my patio. It was really amazing to watch these little birds fighting wind and rain to get nourishment. I captured several trips on video.

It just amazes me that this poor little bird has the strength to fight the winds.

Enjoy the show.

Back Online

After having my dsl knocked out by Hurricane Gustav over a week ago, I am finally back up and running. I could not believe it when I lost my dsl connection and Bellsouth could not do anything about it. I just kept getting the same answer "There are 47 of you in the outage area and we are not sure when we can get the repair work done". But I'm back in the saddle again and thought I would share some of my pictures from the storm.

A mid storm visitor

My beautiful oak tree that took a beating. I lost numerous limbs at the top. I guess that is natures way of pruning trees.

Hope you enjoy....

Welcoming Hurricane Gustav

At 6:30 this morning the winds started to pick up, by 7:15 the rains had started and the winds continued.

7:15 am this morning. It's now 7:45 am and the eye is just starting to move onshore. We should see the eye around 5 pm. Until then we will have winds and rain, then after the eye comes through we will have more wind and rain.

9:30 am - The winds are stronger now. The eye moved onshore somewhat and the coastal parishes are losing power. I'm going to up load some photos now before we lose power. We are expecting the eye around this afternoon.

9:30am

Everyone has to eat. So I put bird seed out yesterday afternoon but the only thing stirring around is this little squirrel.

Here is my little Lucy Dog and you can see her fur blowing in the wind.

Anticipation

Waiting out storms reminds me of that old Carly Simon song "Anticipation.. is keeping me waiting" LOL. Here is the latest picture.

You can see the eye(purple part) just off shore. I am located in the southwestern portion of the parish, which is circled on the above map. Wish us luck. Authorities are predicting that it will be a bit worse than Lily which came through in 2002. We were without power for about 3 days after that storm. I will keep yall posted throughout the day or as long as we have power.

We Are Ready

The latest Radar Pictures.

Well, its about 6:00 pm on Sunday evening and we are ready for Gustav. All the windows are boarded, the plants have been made as secure as possible and we are sitting tight and waiting.

Predictions about Gustav's path take it right through the center of Lafayette with 100 mph winds. Thank goodness we cut the pine trees on the property line after Hurricane Lily. We are in for a breezy evening tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of our area before the storm. The funny thing is the birds are no longer around. Its sooooo quiet when you walk outside. During Hurricane Lily, there was a Hummingbird that kept flying to the one feeder I didn't take down. Here we have 100+ winds and there is this poor bird flying back and forth.

The above are from our house. The rest are from around the neighborhood. Somebody still has a sense of humor. These guys aren't taking any chances. There are crosses painted on their windows. So I came home and painted one on one of my windows also. Can't ever be too safe.

Hurricane Preparations

Here we go again!! On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we are again preparing for a major storm to hit our coast. It looks like New Orleans will be spared this time around but in south central Louisiana where I live, we are expecting a direct hit. My home is almost secured. We have to board the windows and secure outdoor items today and finish packing my pictures. Yesterday we spend the day helping my elderly mother get her home ready. My uncle, who lives closer to the coast, is going to stay with her. My family has bags packed and is sitting on edge just watching to see how strong this storm gets before we decide to leave. If we do, we will go stay with my Dad in Shreveport. I have a brother in Central Louisiana who will meet us to take my Mother to his house and we will continue on to Shreveport. But I will only leave it this storm looks like its going come into Vermilion Bay at a Cat 4.

My plants are secured. Placed between the fence and the greenhouse. Smaller plant will be placed in the greenhouse today. I will try to take pictures of the choas and post later this afternoon, if it looks like we are staying. Kiss and Tell

Contraflow of all traffic in South Louisiana started at 4:oo a.m. You can only travel East and North throughout South Louisiana at this point in time.

Bienvenu.

More later!!

Neck Coolers Directions

Neck Coolers What you use in the middle are the soil crystals you buy at Wal-Mart in the garden section. Just be sure you don't put any down your drains. They swell about 5 times their size and will stop up a drain. Neck Coolers 1. Cut 100% cotton fabric 36" by 4 1/2" 2. Fold in half face sides together and stitch lengthwise. 3. Turn right side out, you should now have a 36" tube open on both ends. 4. Stitch one end closed. I sew at an angle so it has a point. Go up towards the other end about ten inches and sew another line, straight this time. Your goal is to have 3 compartments in your tube - 2 ties and a center one for the crystals 5. Pour about 1 - 2 tablespoons of dry crystals into the middle section. Go up 16 more inches from the last stitch and stitch another line. This will seal the crystals in the tube. 6. Stitch the other end closed, again at an angle for a point. You should now have two 10" ties with a middle section of 16" filled with the crystals 7. Soak the Neck Cooler in water for a couple of hours. 8. Wring out the excess water and tie around your neck. You can either let your neck cooler dry out between uses or keep in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator. I have two made, on really hot days when they dry out quickly, I just swap them out. That way I always have a cool one. Here is the msds sheet for the crystals, this site also has directions for other neck coolers, cool vests and cool hats. http://watersorb.com/msds/pifl3005K4msds.htm Enjoy. Donna

In the Good Ole Summertime

Woody Woodpecker and 2 Hurricane Lilies

Well, its been a little over a month since my last post. I have been busy since school let out. I'm trying to slow it down some this week. I am spending most mornings in the garden then hiding out in the air conditioning all afternoon long. Yesterday, I did venture outside around 5:00 pm to mow the grass so Russ wouldn't have to. The hibiscus are positively glowing in all this heat. The roses on the other hand, they are having trouble.

two shots of two Chinese Lanterns blooming side by side. I love this little plant.

This is Light My Fire from Dupont Nurseries

Rainbow Christy

Happy Mother's Day to all

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers or like a mother to someone. Being a mother has been the greatest and most fulfilling experience of my life and one I wouldn't have missed for anything. My mother was a fantastic roll model. She made so many days special for the four of us. She taught us what it means to stand on your own and to take up for yourself and your family. She taught me what being a good mother, wife and christian means and I try very hard to follow in her footsteps in so many ways. She is my hero.

Check out her Imperial Butter Crown and my Frisbee Hat. Ain't we styling!!!

Again Happy Mother's day to all....

Okay, I admit it, I'm a Home Body

Native Louisiana Iris

It has taken me a while to admit it, but I am truly a homebody. I would love to just hang out here most of the day and putter around. Do projects on or for the house, hang out in the garden getting my flower beds looking their best. Cooking and baking and sitting in the sun room all afternoon scrapping or reading. We only have 11 days of school left and then I'm going to be a home body ALLLLLLL summer long. I have already told my husband, with the price of gas being so high, I will pick one day for errand running only. I also know that 1 day a week will be taken up either working at the baby store or babying sitting my grandson so his mother can work the store. Anyway, its about 5:30 on a Friday morning, its in service day at school which means no kids today. I am hoping to spend all day on paperwork. I still have progress notes, medicaid logs and ESPY papers to file and all I can think about it staying home. So with that said, I'm going get dressed so I can hit the yard for some watering time before going to work. Layta guys

Moonstone

April in the Garden

I spent the entire day in the garden Sunday. I am still unpacking the greenhouse from the winter. I pulled weeds from the rose gardens and applied fresh mulch. I still need to give them another dose of fertilizer but already the blooms are beautiful.

Gemini Peace Blue Girl Tropicana I repotted most of the hibiscus, bought 4 new ones and started potting all the babies I rooted over the winter. I now have 38 hibiscus plants. My darling husband loves to help with these. Crawfish Pie Kiss and Tell I also bought 3 african violets yesterday. I love these thing, but didn't take good care of this this winter and they died. So I bought new ones. I also have this crazy obsession with clay pots. I love the old McCoy pottery and have a nice collection in the greenhouse on display. Wolff pots are my fav. I have several small ones that I keep planted and on the patio. The hardest thing about the small pots is keeping anything alive in them. I forget to water like I should. Last summer Walmart had some really cute pots that I couldn't resist. I bought two blues, a pastel pink, mint green, purple and a buttery yellow. The only problem I had was not enough drainage holes, so I drilled more AND lightened up my potting mix. I planted my voilets in three of these yesterday. Still searching for little plants for the remainer. I usually put small ferns and such. The rest of the yard is waking up from a dreary winter also. I pulled out my two plumerias and worked in some new soil. They have both started putting out their leaves. I still need to get a few more plants out and then attach the oak tree beds. Maybe next Sunday, Saturday I have a board meeting then a scrapbook class, so Saturday is a wash for the garden.