Archive | June 2010

Happy Father’s Day – 2010

Jun20

I always have mixed emotions about Father’s Day.  Even today, I am sad that I am not able to physically hug and kiss the two men who were the strongest father figures in my life, but I am also filled to the brim with the “warm fuzzies” just thinking of them and remembering them.  I always had and counted on my Grandpa – he took over after my father left us when I was a very small child and filled that void beautifully.  But, I was often sad that I didn’t have a “Daddy” in my life.  Until Charlie came into our lives in my mid-late teens and I finally had a Dad that made up for all the lost time!  Charlie didn’t have to be a Dad to us, but he was proud to do so and we adored him for it!

It has been 12 years since I lost my Grandpa and 11 years since Charlie passed on.  But, my heart is still filled with love for them.  They are always with me – my guardian angels – my heros! 

Happy Father’s Day Grandpa and Charlie — I love and miss you both so very much!

Here’s to my two favorite guys:

Marlin Freeman – my Grandpa
Charlie Culmo – my Poppie

Some songs that perfectly reflect my feelings today:

And a couple that hold special memories of Charlie.  The first is “Teddy Bear” song by Barbara Fairchild – the one that Charlie and I considered “our song” and danced to whenever we heard it!  The second is “Satin Sheets” by Jeanne Pruett – this one was Mom and Charlie’s song and one they both loved the most of any country song!

Happy Birthday, Psycho

Jun16

Today, the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Psycho, turns 50 years old!  So, what was so special about a movie released 50 years ago?  LOTS!!!  Hitchcock was a genius – master of suspense and psychological thrillers.  Several failed remakes and sequels later, the original film is still the standout example of classic thrillers.

Not a lot of people realize that the story was based on a REAL LIFE serial killer from Wisconsin – Ed Gein – and that the movie was adapted from a book by Robert Bloch.  Just a bit of mindless trivia….

The Bates house is still one of the most famous houses in movie history!  It is a popular attraction at Universal Studios in Hollywood.  I visited the theme park several years ago and when the tram took me past Norman’s house and the Bates Motel, I got chills remembering the scenes that were filmed there so many years ago – even though seeing it in broad daylight (as seen in the second photo below) wasn’t anywhere near as menacing as seeing it in the film!

My personal memory and experience watching this film came some years after it was released – afterall, I was only 4 years old when it was released and it wasn’t the type of movie parents would take a 4 year-old!  The first time I saw it was in 1968 when I was in the 6th grade.  I had a slumber party that year and invited a boat load of girl friends – all of my female classmates from Waterport school, some neighbor friends, and a couple other girl friends.  The house was crammed wall-to-wall with young girls – dancing, playing records, making root beer floats, giggling – all the things a house full of young 12 year-old girls in the 60s would be doing!

After dark, my Mom turned out the lights and turned on a scary movie that was on TV that night — the movie?  Psycho!  We all watched as Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) found her way to a run down motel owned by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).  We were creeped out by Norman peaking at Marion through the hole in the wall.  And we were scared out of our skins watching the “shower scene”!  Just after that scary scene – where a shadowy woman figure, who we assume at that time is Norman’s mother, rips open the shower curtain and brutally stabs poor Marion to death for what seems like an eternity of blow after blow after blow with the butcher knife – my poor step-father arrives home from working the second shift and opens the front door, which opens right into the room where the wall-to-wall 12 year-old girls lay in terror……………….we all SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER!!!!!  He calmly closed the door and went back to his car — he was not about to enter the den of screaming girls!  hahaha

To this day, I get nervous taking a shower anywhere there is a shower curtain and I can not see out to see who may be coming up on me!  Clear shower doors are my preference!

 For your viewing pleasure – here is the original movie trailer and the infamous shower scene – enjoy!

25 Years

Jun14

The anniversary of a major milestone in my life is about to happen.  It includes not one, but two major life altering events that, together, changed my life forever.  The week of June 21st marks the 25 year anniversary of these two events and the start of a new life.

Friday, June 21, 1985 was a chilly day, as I recall.  Sweaters were necessary as we worked throughout the day for the evening’s festivities.  I had been planning for this day since October of the previous year when Ronald presented me with my birthday gift – an engagement ring.  I wanted a simple, small wedding that reflected me as a person and I wanted to do it all myself – or as much as I could!

It was a perfectly memorable wedding – exactly what I wanted!  We decided to have the ceremony at the Cobblestone Church in Childs, NY, which was built in 1834 and stands as the oldest cobblestone church in North America.  It is part of the Cobblestone Society Museum Complex.   The reception was across the street at the Village Inn restaurant.  The Village Inn is also rich in history in that it began in 1875 as a stage-coach stop along the historic Ridge Road – a main artery for stage coaches traveling between the Genesee and Niagara Rivers.  Both are historic landmarks listed on the National Registry and held special memories for me as I grew up.    So, it was an absolute perfect choice to be married there!  We also utilized the Ward House, which was located beside the church and built in 1836 as the parsonage for the church and also part of the Cobblestone Society Museum Complex and a historic landmark.  This was where the wedding party dressed and prepared for the ceremony.

I worked so hard and planned every detail out…..it was going to be a candlelight ceremony befitting the venue.  There is no electricity in the Cobblestone Church, so we planned to light the sanctuary with the kerosene lamps throughout the church, have candelabras at the altar, and my bridesmaids were to carry floral arrangements with candles.  The ceremony was set to begin at 9:00 pm so that the candles and kerosene lamps would set the perfect mood!  The picture of it all in my head was amazing!  The one detail I didn’t consider – the one important key to the whole atmosphere – was the date I chose!  It was June 21st – summer solstice – the longest day of the year!  At 9:00, when I had assumed it would be dark – or at least deep into dusk, it was still daylight outside!  And the church had regular windows – not stained glass, which might have helped to filter the light entering the sanctuary…….but, then, that was probably the point when it was built – they needed a lot of windows to allow the sun to shine in to provide light for their church services!  So, it wasn’t quite the effect I hoped for, but it was still beautiful and we still used all the kerosene lamps and candles and it was amazing!  And, it did start to darken up some after we started, so it all turned out OK! 

Maid of Honor, Debbie, fixing my dress inside the Ward House

Mom securing my veil

My brother, Kevin, and I – Ward House photo-op before the wedding

Ronald’s niece, Jennifer, waiting for the wedding
I made her dress for the wedding

Leaving the Ward House to go to the church with my Poppie

Poppie walking me down the aisle with my Grandpa looking on
The vocalist sang The Captain and Tennille’s
“There is Love (The Wedding Song)”

Right after we lit the unity candle
while the vocalist sang Chicago’s “Colour My World”

Flower Girl, Jennifer, and Ring Bearer, Robby – my new son – leaving the church after the ceremony

Ronald and I outside the church after the ceremony!

Me at the beautiful fireplace inside The Village Inn during the reception

A fun photo at the reception

So, I mentioned that the week of the 21st marks not one, but two, major milestones in my life.  The wedding was obviously one, which was a compound one given that it not only meant that I was now a married woman at the age of 28, I was also a new mother of two boys – Robby, 7, and Dusty, 13.  Robby lived with us full-time from the start – in fact, since before we were married, but Dusty only lived with us for a couple short periods.  That combination is enough of an adjustment……but, there was more to come!!! 

My new family – Robby, Ronald, me, and Dusty

Yes, there was yet another major life altering event that happened that week – we moved to Sanford, NC!  In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I was not only busy with the wedding preparations, I was also busy helping Ronald with yard sales to lighten our load and packing up all of our belongings to head south.  We loaded everything up on a friend’s flat-bed 18 wheeler and watched it head out ahead of us. 

Then, the morning after the wedding, we loaded two cars with stuff we didn’t want on the flat-bed.  And amidst teary good byes, Ronald, Robby and I got in the cars with Easy (our beagle) and Roxanne (our pet racoon) and pulled out of my Mom’s driveway to move to Sanford.  When we arrived in Sanford a couple of days later (we made some stops along the way), it was incredibly HOT!  The flat-bed was parked under our new car port waiting for us to arrive.  We immediately started working to unload it — and since I was not accustomed to the heat and it was still cool when we left NY, I passed out cold!!!  hahaha  Welcome to the south!

Ronald and me with Roxanne at Mom’s a day or two before we left.

This was a gutsy move that I don’t know how I managed the courage for, but I guess I was fearless at 28!  The place Ronald worked in Medina, NY closed down and his family had moved to Sanford some time before that.  They told him that there were jobs in Sanford, so he decided to start over there.  He asked me to go with him, which led to the wedding.  But, it meant that I had to quit a job I had at General Electric for 11 years.  As it turned out, they closed that plant not too long after that, as well, but I didn’t know that was going to happen at the time.  I didn’t give it much thought, though – odd for me — I can’t buy a pair of shoes without pondering my options for what seems like eons!!!  I cashed in my 401K and the voluntary contribution portion of my retirement and Ronald sold his Cessna 150 airplane, a ton of antiques, and stuff he didn’t want to or couldn’t take with us.  And that is what we lived on for a while……..because, get this, we didn’t have any jobs to go to!!!  We had a house – Ronald’s parents found us a great house and secured the loan for us (because we couldn’t get one on our own because we didn’t have jobs), but we just figured we’d get jobs to pay for it when we got there! 

Our first Sanford home on Steele Street

It took a little longer than we had hoped, but we did find jobs.  Ronald got his job first and then changed to a better one that he was at for over 20 years before they closed down early last year.  I did some odd jobs for a while – a horrible job at Eagle Electric, which I quit after about a month to go to Hardees (don’t ask – it isn’t a pretty story), a floral designer job, and I even cleaned houses for a while.  Then got a good job in Apex, where I stayed for a little less than two years until I got a great job where I still work 22 years later!

So, all that was 25 years ago.  Many of my friends in NY took bets that I wouldn’t make it a year in the Bible Belt as a “Kool-Aid Mom”!  haha  Guess I fooled them – I adapted better than they thought I would.  But, it was a huge adjustment that I had to go through — one day I was single and care free, the next I was married and a Mom, and the next I was moving to a new state with no job and no family or friends – except, of course, Ronald and his family, most of who I really didn’t know that well.

As for my marriage, well, unfortunately that didn’t last.  Ronald and I were married about 9 years.  I regret that we couldn’t make it work, but it wasn’t a total loss.  We recognized we weren’t good at being married and agreed to split before we ruined the friendship.  And that friendship blossomed and got stronger over the years.  We are still the very best of friends and always will be! 

I continue to struggle with the fact that my family is all still in Albion.  It is extremely difficult for me – especially after my marriage failed.  I came close to packing up and returning when my step-son, Dusty, came to live with us and caused a lot of problems for me – but, he decided to leave to go back to his Mom, so I didn’t have to make that decision.  I also thought long and hard about moving back when I got my divorce – but, I had a good job, I was going to college, I had a ton of debt, and the job situation up home was really bad.  I knew it wasn’t the right time to make the move and I wasn’t as brave about jumping into an uncertain situation as I was when I was newly married! 

So, if I could go back and change anything, would I?  No, not really.  Of course, I hate that we weren’t able to make the marriage work, but looking back, I’m not sure what we could have done differently and I wouldn’t go back further and skip that part – there was too much good that I would have missed out on and I wouldn’t have my best friend now.  I also hate that I am so far away from my family – but, I make that work by visiting as often as I can and by being in contact with my Mom daily.  I always believe that things happen for a reason.  Right, wrong, or indifferent, the choices I made in my life got me where I am today and made me the person I am today.  Not just these choices — all of them from the earliest life decisions to the ones I am still making for myself.  I take full responsibility for all the good, the bad, and the ugly — and think I did OK!!!

So, when next week gets here, I’ll be reminiscing and thinking about all that has happened in the past 25 years and wondering why it flew by so quickly on me!  A quarter of a century of my life – gone in the blink of an eye – and, yet, filled to the brim with adventures, laughter, tears, and change……..and there’s so much more to come – hopefully a whole lot more laughter and a whole lot less tears, though!

Saturday Morning in Sanford

Jun12

I had the best Saturday morning in Sanford today!  The weather couldn’t be more perfect – hot, but not too hot (but, just wait until the afternoon, I’m sure), with a nice breeze and a gorgeous bright blue sky!  I had stuff on my “to do” list, but nothing that I needed to rush around for!  And I just plain had fun!

I started out driving through town with the top down on the pony, Sanford’s WFJA 105.5 blarring out classic rock hits on the radio, and me singing along at the top of my lungs!  I was bee-bopping and singing and having a big party in my car when I came up along side of a lady in an SUV with all her windows rolled up tight!  I could tell she could still hear me or at the very least knew I was singing and having a party all by myself!  When I noticed her starring at me, I smiled and waved and she instantly looked away as if to say “oh, no, the crazy lady saw me looking at her – don’t make eye contact – you might catch what she has!”  hahaha  I just kept having fun and enjoying my lovely Saturday morning!  No prissy lady in a big SUV that doesn’t even want the breeze to come in her windows is going to spoil that for me!!!  {giggle}

Then, I went to Marcello’s and Aprille gave me a much-needed pedicure - I now have soft, well-maintained feetsies and toesies and I feel so good!!! 

From there, I went to Southern Jewelers to check out the new stuff my friend Lora Wright got at a show in Las Vegas!  I fell in love with two amazing rings that I just had to have!  So, that’s my shameless gift to myself for the day!

Then, I went out to the annual Arden sale and bought a really pretty umbrella for my patio table — just $35.00!  Arden has a manufacturing site here in Sanford – they make high-end patio cushions, umbrellas, and other stuff like that!  Each year about this time, they open up a warehouse full of discontinued pattern stock for sale – CHEAP!!!  I just got all new cushions last year and they are still good, so I didn’t need any cushions.  But, a big wind picked up my umbrella – table and all – and threw it across the patio and landed upside down, breaking the post and umbrella in several places!  I loved that umbrella, but wasn’t terribly upset because I got it at Arden last year for $35.00, so I wasn’t out the big bucks it would have cost me in the store!  So — I did need a new umbrella!  I’m loving this one!

A biscuitville biscuit for brunch on the way home ended my morning adventure…………..now, I think I’ll curl up in front of the TV and risk falling into a nice nap!!!

Point Breeze – Rich in History and Rebirth

Jun10

This is the view of the west side pier at the mouth of the Oak Orchard Harbor at Point Breeze, NY in 1871.  Point Breeze is located on Lake Ontario in the Town of Carlton just north of my home town of Albion, NY.  The lighthouse, as it is pictured here, was in place until 1916.  A community non-profit organization is in process of rebuilding it.  I’m so excited and can’t wait to see the finished structure!

I love being on or near the lake and especially love Point Breeze.  I almost always include a drive to the Point when I travel up home for a visit.  My Grandparents had a cottage on the lake at Sunset Beach near the Point and I cherished the time I would spend there as a child.  We had a circle of friends who spent their summers there that we grew up with.  I remember many, many warm summer nights playing kick the can, hide ‘n seek, and roasting marshmallows and pies around a campfire.  In my teen years, I discovered how tranquil and calming being near the water was.  I spent a lot of time sitting on a bench at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the lake – just sitting there thinking, listening, and writing poetry.  One summer in my early 20s, my friend, Greta, and I rented my Grandparent’s cottage and stayed there for a few months.  It was a great summer – we rarely had a weekend that we didn’t have a crowd there for a party!  The memories moved to Point Breeze in my 20s – many nights sitting on the porch of the Black North Inn with some cold beers watching the boats enter and leave the harbor.  Then, when I started dating Ronald, we’d take his sons to the point and the harbor to fish and feed the ducks.

The Black North Inn, Point Breeze, NY

Oak Orchard Harbor, Point Breeze, NY

So, Lake Ontario, Oak Orchard Harbor, and Point Breeze are very special to me and I enjoy any opportunity to go and reminisce.  I also have a strong love for lighthouses.  My dream home is a cottage-type lighthouse on the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the water.  Since that likely isn’t going to be a home I’ll ever actually own, I’ve settled for a lighthouse theme in my guest bathroom!  hahaha

Given all that, I was so happy to hear that a group was raising funds to rebuild the lighthouse that was at the Point from 1871 to 1916.  The lighthouse and keeper’s house were built in 1871.  The light was visible for nine miles and safely guided ships from the lake into the harbor.  It was maintained by the US Government until 1905, when it was left abandoned.  A storm caused major damage in 1914 and another storm washed what remained of the building away in 1916.  The keeper’s house remains and is now a private residence, but photos is all that remain of the lighthouse.

The construction is coming along nicely.  I bet the next time I go home for a visit, it will be all done and ready to be enjoyed.  Here are some pictures my Mom sent me a couple of months ago:

Since I made a donation to the fundraising efforts, I get a newsletter from them from time to time with info and progress updates.  I received one today and read about another historic link to the Oak Orchard Harbor that I found fascinating!  It is about another favorite spot to visit when I go home – Brown’s Berry Patch!  This is a family owned farmer’s market with wonderful fresh fruits, vegetables, and berries.  They have a great gift shop and ICE CREAM!!!  Apparently, the Brown family holds a prominent spot in the events that took place in the Oak Orchard Harbor during the War of 1812.  I had to do some more research to get the whole story.  Bathshua Brown was the widow of Elijah Brown.  They married and lived in Connecticut in 1774-1776, when the British took their livestock and supplies and burned their home and farm during the Revolutionary War.  Over the next 28 years or so, they moved around and finally settled on a 100-acre farm along the Oak Orchard River on the south shore of Lake Ontario in 1804.  Elijah, unfortunately, died during the move, which left Bathshua and her 12 children (five sons and seven daughters – the remaining of 16 children born to Elijah and Bathshua) to work the farm.  During the War of 1812, British war ships patrolled the Lake Ontario coast to hinder commerce.  A British Captain was captured and taken to Bathshua Brown — as it turned out, he was the same British Captain who lead the soldiers who burned her home in Connecticut in 1776!  She gave him three choices:  be turned over to the American forces;  allow her sons to have at him; or return to his ship and never come back again!  He was never seen again!  The farm, Orchard Dale Fruit Farms, has been successful and kept in the Brown family for all the generations since Bathshua and her 12 children settled there over 200 years ago!  Brown’s Berry Patch was opened by the family in 1984 and has been a thriving business ever since — I never stop in there without finding it crowded with shoppers! 

I continue to be amazed by the history and legacy of the area I grew up in and that provided so many wonderful memories for me!

Research Credits:  The majority of the historical information used in this post was found on the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum and  Brown’s Berry Patch web sites.

Beyond Sad

Jun8

A picture says much more than words ever can….why aren’t more people outraged by the devastation that has wreaked havoc with the wildlife and beautiful waters and beaches along the Gulf Coast?  What will it take to convince people to send a powerful message to BP:  OK, so the worst that could possibly happen did happen — now when are you going to stop making excuses and shifting blame?  It’s done – own up to your responsibility and FIX it!!! 

Look at these photos and then look at the pumps before you fill up and move on to a station that doesn’t have “BP” on the pump!!!  Don’t support a company that takes something like this so lightly and makes ridiculous comments like “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp”!!!

Drive-In Movies

Jun6

I grew up during the height of the Drive-In theater popularity.  I loved spending time at the Orleans Drive-In as a child and as a teen.  Many memories center around nights at the drive-in. 

Random thoughts / memories involving drive-in theaters:

  • Mom would load us up in the station wagon wearing our jammies and toting our pillows and blankets.  When we arrived at the drive-in and Mom got parked, we would go into the concession stand and get popcorn, drinks, hot dogs, etc. — cheap dinner and a movie for the family!  Then, Kevin and I would run down to the park area at the base of the screen to play.  They had swings, slides, and that thing that you would run to get it spinning and then jump on and ride around in circles until it stopped!  When we saw the cartoons start, we’d run back to the car to settle in for the cartoons and as much of the movie before we’d fall asleep in the back of the station wagon.
  • On nice nights, we might sit out on the hood or roof of the car or on lawn chairs we would bring with us.
  • The concession stand teasers were so much fun……especially the count down to show time with the snacks doing circus acts.  I particularly remember the hot dog doing flips before it leaps into the bun! 
  • An important ritual after leaving the drive-in was to drive through town before we headed home.  Mom would wake us up and we’d drive down main street to see the stop lights flashing — the town put them on flashing after midnight.  We’d get a big kick out of it and being able to say we were up late enough to see it!
  • I was small for my age, so I was able to get in for the “under 12 is free” admission fee until I was 16 or 17!  hahaha  Even when I went with friends, they’d say I was their little sister!  I got away with that until I started being the one to drive or when I started going alone with a boyfriend!
  • My friend Mary Aina lived behind the drive-in.  A bunch of us would frequently walk down from her house to the far back corner of the drive-in, stretch the last speaker as far as we could, turn it all the way up, and sit on a rail road tie that was just off drive-in property.  We’d go in to the concession stand to get snacks and sit there watching the movie for free!
  • Mom took a bunch of my friends in the station wagon up to Transit Drive-In in another town to see The Beatles’ Help! when it first came out.
  • I probably saw hundreds of movies at the drive-in, but the only ones that stick out and I have distinct memories of seeing there are Patton and M.A.S.H!  And I think I saw them both on the same night, if I’m not mistaken!  Strange……..

And, here’s a real treat — a video of the count down to show time featuring juggling popcorn, tight rope balancing candy, marching ice cream, dancing sodas, and that ever popular flipping hot dog!  Enjoy!

What’s New?

Jun5

Lot’s going on — busy, busy, busy!!!  All kinds of stuff to blog about and purge from rattling around in my mind!!!  So, I will take a few minutes out of my beautiful, relaxed Saturday morning to capture some of my thoughts before I decide what all is in store for me today!  Peruse through to hear about my recent adventures and see how pretty some of the key features in my yard look!

I took a quickie trip up to visit with my family over Memorial Weekend.  The plan was to leave after I got off work at noon on Friday and head back on the late flight Monday evening so that I could have two full and two partial days up home without having to use any vacation days!  Sounded good — didn’t work out, though!  Oh, the trip was GREAT and I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family (more on that later), but the “no vacation days” part didn’t quite pan out!  My return trip didn’t go exactly as planned.  Apparently, there was a lot of severe weather in some parts of the country that really messed up air travel on Monday – particularly in Chicago, from what I was told.  The risk in booking a late flight, in particular the last flight, is that it is usually delayed and sometimes gets canceled.  My flight didn’t get canceled, but it did get delayed so late that it was scheduled to leave Buffalo about 40 minutes AFTER my connecting flight (which was the last flight of the night) was scheduled to leave Baltimore!  So – my choices were to get as far as Baltimore and spend the night there OR stay at Mom’s another night and start out fresh in the morning………duh – that’s a no brainer!  Both options meant I wasn’t gonna get to work on time the next morning and would need to take at least a partial vacation day!  I chose to stay put!  The next day wasn’t much better — had I chosen to stay in Baltimore, I still would have had to take a full vacation day because they were all clogged up with weather delays most of the day, again!  I got home Tuesday evening and all was fine………BUT — I am sure after this and the last flight disaster that the travel Gods are trying to tell me to keep my butt on the ground for a while and stop gallivanting all over the country!!!  hahaha

As for the trip home…….we crammed in a lot of stuff and managed to do a lot of relaxing, too!  Mom and I went out to dinner Friday night after she picked me up at the airport.  Then, Saturday was a full day — it started out with Mom and me making a big macaroni salad together – by the time we both stopped adding stuff that we each put in “our” mac salads, it ended up being quite a mixture of both of our styles and it was SOOOOO good!!!  hahaha  Then, we went to get flowers for the cemetery from Navarra’s and took them out to fill the crocks and wash the head stones of those who have gone on before us.  All are nice and bright and cheery for the summer season!  Then, we enjoyed an ice cream sundae at Double Dips before we went home to meet my brother and his wife for a cook out!  Zweigles hot dogs on the grill, macaroni salad, devilled eggs, etc……  Mom and I ended the evening watching a couple of movies!  Sunday was another day for the family to get together – my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew went out for lunch and then went back to Mom’s.  More food and movies and fun!  Monday was a relaxing day with just Mom and me before I headed to the airport, only to come back for a “bonus” night with her!

The big disappointment for the weekend was not getting to see my new great-nephew!  Nolen was born in January and this was my first trip up since he arrived!  The plan was to get to meet him and spend some time cuddling with him!  BUT – my nephew’s wife went out of town with her family and took Nolen with her to meet some of her extended family!  boo hoo!!!  But – they didn’t know I was coming, so didn’t know to shift things a little so that I could get to see him, too!  There is always next time………

This morning, I snapped these two pictures of my beautiful, crooked mimosa tree!  I love this tree and look forward to it blooming every year about this time!  When I first moved into my house, most of the back yard was crammed full of wild weeds and stumps and broken trees and vines.  It was unusable, so I rented a back hoe and Ronald, Robby, and I worked to clear it out so I could do some nice landscaping and use the entire yard……OK, so it was actually mostly Ronald and Robby, but I also put some time in on the back hoe tearing out tree stumps and debris!  One tree they wanted to pull out was this mimosa tree — because it had grown crooked and looked weird!  But, I wouldn’t let them — I thought it was quirky, not weird, and if it fought that hard to make its way up through all the crappy stuff to survive, then it deserved to continue surviving!  And I think it makes a perfect statement in my landscaping!  Yeah, I know – these grow wild all over town and are messy when they shed their blossoms, but I still love it and it isn’t located where the messy blossoms are a problem!  But, I do cut down the new ones that try to come up from the seed pods it drops – I don’t want a forest of them!  hahaha   Look at how pretty it looks in the corner of my lot and check out that gorgeous Saturday morning blue sky!

My special little Weeping Japanese Red Maple is really taking off and branching out.  It was just a twig when the elves planted it a few years ago and in the last year or so, it has started to really get full and pretty!  I adore it and it makes a perfect feature in the opposite corner of the lot that the mimosa is on.

I almost missed the Gardenia blossoms across the back of my house!!!  The buds were just barely ready to pop when I left and by the time I returned, some of the blossoms were already spent!  But, it is still blossoming and I am so enjoying them – they smell so marvelous and look so beautiful!

And Katie is loving the warm grass in front of the fragrant gardenias this morning, too!

So, that’s all for now…….I want to get out and enjoy this fabulous day!