Easter Tree

I finished putting up my Easter Tree is morning. I cant believe that i forgot to take pictures of my mardi gras tree. two cameras, an iPad and an iPhone and no photos of the tree. Anyway, here are some photos.

The real McCoy.

For years I have had an obsession for vintage planters. I would usually pick one up at a garage sale. A coupe of years ago I happened across the cutest little blue planter. It was squatty and perfect for a small plant. I picked it up and brought it to the register. The lady rang it up and said "that will be $35.00, please". Of course, I looked at her like she was crazy and and asked why so much. She states that " it's a McCoy". Well $35.00 was a bit rich for me so I left the little planter for someone else. After that I started researching what a McCoy was and found out the it was a pottery company in the mid west that had produced pottery of all kinds for the 20s through the mid 70s. After that I started looking for McCoy pottery everywhere we go. I even have my husband hooked. The only rule is I won't pay more than $35.00 for any one piece, lol...


So, here is my collection.

My latest aquisition

rescued from Minot, ND, a few summers ago, before the downtown area flooded.

Love the color of this one.

The photo doesn't do the colors justice, but the planters themselves are a buttery yellow

This belonged to my mother, which she in turn gave to me.

Another Minot rescue, can't ever find this one at a decent price WITH the chain.

I inherited this one from my Grandmother.

Another one inherited from my grandmother.

This one come from Tybee Island.  I found it in a booth run by my favorite author, Mary Kay Andrews!!!  It is just perfect to hold my art scissors

In the greenhouse...

In the greenhouse...

Here is another one that holds garden shears and plant tags...

I found this set in Liberty, Texas.  I have never seen another set like this and haven't been able to find any photos online.  This was my most expensive set, but again didn't pay but about $24 each. 

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my collection.  Until next time....

Halloween tree

Its really frustrating not to be able to garden like i use to. My roses are almost all dead. This is one of the only times I can remember in my adult life that i have been without a rosebush. My hibuscus all need repotting before the cold sets in and i have about two weeks to try to do it. Hope hubby is up to taking orders on pruning and repotting.

Being i can't really play in the yard like i would like to, I thought I would share my ornament tree with you today.

What a Nightmare

This is the only way I can describe the last 3 weeks. I had been having some tightness in my back for a couple of months now, but it wasn't anything major. Then about 4 weeks ago I started with a very mild sciatica, pain over the buttocks area and an occasional cramp in my calf but I really didn't think too much about it and with all the medication I've been taking for my arm it was helping with the back.

Well on Monday, September 19th I woke up with pains shooting all the way down my left leg by 2 pm I was crying uncontrollably with pain. I couldn't sit, stand or lie down with hurting. My dear husband couldn't take watching me in pain any longer so he call an ambulance to come and get me. I was brought to the hospital where they started giving me morphine for the pain. They did a ct scan of my back and found I had a pinched nerve. I was admitted to the hospital for treatment.

On Tuesday they attempted to have PT work with me to alleviate the pain and pressure but it was unsuccessful. So I spent another day in a pain and a morphine induced coma. On Wednesday I was brought downstairs for an epidural nerve block and steroid injection. During the procedure my O2 dropped too low so I was placed on O2 for the remainder of my stay. I was returned to my room after the epidural where the doctor informed my husband that the epidural didn't work and my only other option was surgery AND he couldn't do that until Friday. So now I'm in excruciating pain and will have to suffer for two more days. My husband decided that we needed to consult with a pain management doctor and ask that one be contacted. The pain management doctor took one look at me and ordered some sort of "cocktail" that put me in a near comatose state. All I know is that I was able to sleep in spite of the pain. On Friday, September 23rd I underwent surgery to relieve the pinched nerve at L5 and S1. I woke from surgery and couldn't move my left leg at all and the pain was almost as severe as before the surgery. The doctor told us that because of the amount of pressure that the nerve was under I was going to have nerve pain for months to come. It took me three days before I was able to move my toes on command. Five days after surgery I was moved to Rehab and spent 5 days there before being released to return home. It has been 17 days since my surgery and I'm still having nerve pain in my foot and calf. Hope it all resolves soon.

What A Coincidence

In preparation for my recent surgery, I purchased several magazines so I would have something to read besides my nook, while I recovered.  Much to my surprise, while flipping through the pages of the 2011 Flea Market Style Magazine, I see MY little garden housein a feature story.  Upon taking a closer look, I discovered that this little garden house was actually not mine but gosh did it look a whole lot like mine.  Upon further reading, I also discovered that this little jewel was built for the owner as a mother's day present.  Well my little sanctuary was also build as a Mother's Day gift back in 2005.  Wanna see the side by side pictures???  Hope The Tin Rabbit doesn't mind....

   My little garden house. 

The Tin Rabbit's Garden House

http://thetinrabbit.blogspot.com/

Both were built using recycled/flea market windows, doors and decorations. 

Looking at the Tin Rabbit's Garden house, I wish I would have had larger windows, but with the heat in southwest Louisiana, the plants would have burned and I just love the finial on top, looks like a little church. 

Just found it soooo very eerie, that there is another garden shed so similar to mine....

This is a side view of my little house.

I will finds some pictures of the inside of my little house and post them tomorrow.  Arm is hurting now, not bad, it just took me all day to type this entry..... 

Hello Blog!

Well it has been a while since I have blogged anything.  Life has taken my husband and I on a very active course this past year.  We have found that being empty nesters doesn't mean sitting home mourning the loss of parenthood.  Last March during the Mardi Gras holidays, we took a vacation to Orlando with our grandchild and his parents.  We stayed in a very nice resort right outside the gates of Disney World.  I had never been to Disney so it was overwhelming for me.  Once we returned from that vacation, my Marine was scheduled to return from Afghanistan.  So in April we vacationed again, this time in Wilmington NC.  We enjoyed exploring the area but enjoyed welcoming my baby home even more.  Then the crush of the end of school kept me extremely busy.  My summer started in a cast, after I took a spill at school.  The ER Docs thought it was fractured, but it ended up being a very bad sprain which has yet to heal completely.  They are now thinking I have some nerve damage.  Anyway, I was able to attend a couple of 4 day crops and a week in Arkansas before heading back to school.  Once school started, however, my arm began to swell and hurt,  In late October I was placed on medical leave and have been home since then.  Last week, we did get to go back to Orlando for a week to spend some time with my children before Matt leaves again for Afghanistan.  We had a wonderful time.  I was able to spend good quality time with my two adult men without interruptions from their friends and jobs.  

Betty and the Boys!!!

Back in the Saddle

Okay, so its only been three months since my last post. What have I been up to you ask??? Well I decided that the time was right for me to reign as queen of our Mardi Gras Krewe. All I can say is WHAT A BLAST. This has been one of the most memorable things I have done in a long time. The ball was two weeks ago and I can't believe how much fun we had. Wanna see some pictures? Okay, here goes. Our Mistress of Ceremonies was Lori Meaux Steele. She was such a hoot. We were never really sure what she would come up with next. This was half way through my ROYAL walk. Funny, but when I say the lights of the bar in the background, all I could think about was how much I needed a shot of something to get me through the rest of the walk. I was sooooooo afraid I would trip over something and fall or I would go too fast.

Once I had completed my walk and was on stage, Ms. Steele decided to request and audience with the Queen. Well needless to say, I had no idea she was going to do this. Can you see that deer in the headlight look? The entire court has been assembled on stage. The music was sooooo awesome. The theme was Meauxtown (Motown) Comes to Atlantis, so all the music was Motown classics. We had Steve Wonder, the Four Tops, the Temps, Otis Day and the Nights, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Michael Jackson, The song I came out to was Respect by Aretha. I know, her label was not Motown, but it was my Party and I wanted to come out to that song, LOL. I think the best song was Shout. The people were up out of their seats, singing along. We even had a special visit from James Brown, well okay, it was an impersonator, the country's 113 best impersonator, but it sounded just like JB.

Troy really looked like he was signing.

Elus, played one mean bass and added all the screams and grunts right on cue.

Russ was a surprise visitor popping out of the dark with a twinkle in his eyes (provided by his glasses) and gave us a heartfelt Baby, Baby Baby!!!

Brian and Caffery were our wonderful backup musicians. The men did a wonderful job entertaining the crowd.

The entertainment for the ball finale was provided by a lively montage of Dianna Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations and Martha Vandell. The ladies of the court along with yours truly sang and danced to the classic sounds of Motown. The grand finale was when Thriller began to play and the court began to dance. I don't know who had more fun the audience watching us make fools of ourselves or us!!! All I know is it was one memorable night. My reign as a Motown Queen will always be a Night to Remember!!!

Here I am pretending to be Diana Ross lip syncing "Stop in the Name of Love"

Becking is singing her heart out to the song she came out to when she was queen, "Dancing in the Street"

Pam was singing her own versions of "My Girl".

While Cindy rocked the house with "Heard it Through the Grapevine.

We usually end the Tableau part of the night with the traditional Mardi Gras Second Line song. This year we decided to parade through the crowd to the Pointer Sister's "We are Family". I felt that it was a better song for us because that what I feel that this Krewe is to me, an extension of my family. I didn't grow up with a sister, but now, I have 37 wonderful ladies to call "my friend".

Back Yard Shots

I have a few pictures to share with you today. I have not been spending very much time outdoors this summer because of the extreme heat. I go out early in the morning then must come inside the rest of the day. The air is soooo thick that I have trouble breathing. But I did manage to get a few shots of the yard this weekend and thought I would share them. A shot of the Hibiscus plants. The newly landscaped greenhouse. Another shot of the front of the greenhouse.

A view of the side bed with the new hydrangeas added.

Roses

Same bed, different shot Mrs. Jimmy Spangler Sunny Wind Night Fire

Bayou Irene

Double Pink

And Lastly this is one of my new favorites - Hot Bikini Another shot of Hot Bikini