The sun is out!

Yesterday we got some blessed rain, so I'm not complaining, and I thought it was going to continue today -- it was overcast and dreary this morning, but the sun has finally come out!
I spent the evening yesterday making KT a little Valentine skirt.  I think she'll like it - she seems to be VERY interested in clothing lately.  So cute.  It was fun and only took about an hour.  This was a pattern I found on Pinterest.

Then today I made a little kitchen towel set with a fat quarter that I found when we were up in Fredricksburg at Christmas time. A total impulse buy totaling a whole $1.50. I think they turned out cute, though.

I took a little stroll out to the garden this afternoon to pick up a few seed starting supplies - still trying to get a jump on the garden.  Today I planted seeds in recycled toilet paper rolls, another little tip I read on line.  We'll see how these hold up. They were easy to make.  I planted peanuts in these.  I know, I know...peanuts. Ha!  I'm just having fun with that, we'll see how they do. I'm planning to put them in an old metal tub we have in the garden.

I found three lamb's quarter plants coming up in the old herb garden. I'm telling you, those things never stop.  It makes a pretty little plant, though, doesn't it? From what I've read about this herb, it was used like spinach or fresh in salad back in the civil war era, as it grew so abundantly in the south.  I absolutely believe it. I started these about 10 years ago with one little plant that I bought at a plant sale.  It seeds itself and spreads like crazy. 

Zombies coming soon....

One of my favorite shows is coming back in February!  Look out for zombies!! Here's the first 3 minutes of the new show....

Today's photo.  It's dreary, a bit cool in the 50s, and over-cast today.  It feels like January right here at the end of January.  The housework is almost done and the laundry is folded.
Headed downstairs to get another load and I spy my cat doing her part by staying out from under-foot. Doesn't she look peaceful?  I paused to soak up the peace for a few minutes.....

CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!

Don't miss the new season of "Game Of Thrones," premiering on April 1st, 2012. For more on Game of Thrones, go to http://itsh.bo/gHfJPE.

KT's 2!

We celebrated all weekend!  Colleen and Jeff gave her a very nice "Olivia" party on Saturday, complete with tractor rides, pinata, and fun.  The weather cooperated, thank goodness, and it turned out to be a nice day.  She is one lucky little girl.

 (KT with her birthday cupcake)

 (A new type of pinata - no hitting, only have to pull on the ribbons!)

(Olivia hats)

 (I'm tired of saying "cheese.")

(Grumpy helping KT's cousin Taylor onto the trailer.)

Today we got to spend part of the day with her, lunch together and then we kept her for a while when Jeff and Colleen took in a movie.  She is so much fun - we stopped for frozen yogurt (to celebrate, you know..ha!) and then came back to their house and played on her new swing.  She loves it - great job, Jeff!

 (Birthday ice cream!)

(Swinging!)

It's hard to believe it has been two years.  Wow, where does the time go? Love you, KT Bug!

Wonder if this is real?

Found today on one of the many blogs I read daily....if this is true, well....that's funny right there!

Happy Birthday, Colleen!

Garden Fever...

I've been spending January dreaming of getting the spring garden in.  It helps that all of the seed catalogs have arrived and it really accelerates while I'm meandering through Pinterest garden boards.
The few seeds that I do order online have mostly arrived already, and I've started a few in seed flats to get a jump on the season.  The first two plants to come up were the freebie tomato seeds that I got on my order from Park Seeds! I guess free is best!
One thing I'm doing this year is being ruthless in thinning out the extra seedlings - I usually can't stand to pull up anything, but I think it's worked against me in the past, so this year I'm not falling for that.  Here's the two little tomato plants that I'm re-potting today.

Spindly, huh? I made the newspaper pots using a tutorial I found on-line. They needed to get potted deeper to get a good start.  I also started a flat of leeks today.
We've decided to build permanent above-ground plots this year -- last year's drought is destined to continue this summer, I'm afraid, so we're hoping to get ahead of it, and with me home all the time I can give it the attention it deserves. Yeah!!

Tomato plants in better containers...with a cup of tea! ha!

Keeping KT...an adventure!

Grammy:   "KT, KT...KT!...KT...."
KT: --------------------------------------

(Hard to get her attention when she's totally absorbed in the Ice Age movie.)

Grammy: "KT, let's finish getting dressed."
KT: "No."

Grammy: "Come here, KT.  Let's put on your pink pants."
KT: "No like it."

Grammy: "OK, how about these jeans?"
KT: "No like it."

Grammy: "Look, KT, Grammy has jeans on.  You want to wear jeans?"
KT: "No."

Grammy: "Here, pick one of these - there's pink or there's blue jeans."
KT: "No like them."

Grammy: "KT, these are the only pants in the bag.  Here, you want to wear these with the hearts that you had on yesterday?"
KT: "No."

Ring...ring....ring....

Grammy picks up the phone: "Hello?"
Grumpy: "How are you'all doing?"
Grammy: "KT won't put on her pants.  Here, can you tell her to put on her pants so we can come into town?"

Grumpy: "KT, put on your pants."
KT: "No"

Grumpy: "Here, KT, talk to your dad."
Jeff: "KT, put on your pants."
KT: "Okay."

Moral of this story - sometimes you just have to call in the big guns.

Visiting with Grumpy at his office later in the day.  She picked the pink pants.

Compost!

I have my bright blue compost pile!  Three reclaimed pallets (no two exactly the same size...isn't that weird?), some roofing tin from the old garage, and a few roofing screws. I'm very easily pleased, aren't I?!
Now, I just have to keep adding to it, turn it every couple of weeks, and I should have some nice, rich compost just in time for the veggie garden.

Herbert Russell Schwencke

Yesterday would have been my dad's 89th birthday (I said 88 earlier, but my math, as usual, was coo coo!) Ha!  He's been gone since December of 2007, so it's been 4 years, and I still miss him and think about him often.  Love you, Dad!

Great Sunday!

We had ourselves a real lazy day -- usually I can't get John to sit still and just relax, but since we've both been sick, I think we needed to just sit today.  Popped in an older DVD, Priest, and popped some popcorn, turned out the lights and it almost felt like we were in the best theater in the world, our own living room! It was great.  Funny how much we enjoyed that!
It's been an overcast day anyway, with the rain dripping off the roof every so often.  We've had the fireplace going all day, and it was cozy.

Look at this fella I found in the flower bed, surrounded by pansies.  It looks like he's ready for a hike...he always reminds me of one of the Hobbits.

A week in the life of me....

I'm thoroughly sick of being sick.  I've been sick all week, and just when I think it's on the way out, I start feeling worse.  Today I was so tired of it, I actually cleaned the ceiling fans.  Now you know how bad it really is....I needed something else to do besides feeling sorry for myself....sigh.
But anyway, the ceiling fans look pretty good for a few days.  I also replaced all of the air vent filters, you know.....just in case they were part of the problem.  My voice is back, though...so I'm talking to myself some.  Trouble is, it echos in my head since my ears are so full of fluid, and I can hardly hear myself.
Sad, sad, sad....
I also ventured into Boerne today to go to the HEB, coughing and hacking into the few remaining Kleenex that I owned.  I had to replace them, get more cough syrup and drops and buy some chicken soup.  Yes, I'm hitting the hard stuff.  I'm giving this bug two more days, and it MUST be gone by Monday.  I have spoken...well, croaked is more like it.

I sat outside and took a few pictures of the birds today.  The bird feeders are getting hit pretty hard - filling them up every couple of days.  They race off when I come out the door, but if I sit vewy, vewy quietly...they start to come back.
The scrub jay is the boss.

When he's there, the others have to wait their turn.  Next is the red birds, although they are kind of skittish.  Here's a little beautiful gal.

Then there are the sparrows and the chickadees...they come in bunches! So much fun to watch them.  Yes...I'm easily amused.
Every once in a while they all fly off in a panic.  You might think it's me, but here's the real culprit.

And then the deadly, wild guinea population comes in and chases everyone away, including the cat.  Fun to watch!

Movie Review --- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Pretty darn good! We really enjoyed this action packed movie, including the new team that Ethan Hunt has assembled.  Lots of gadgets, rubber faces, death defying climbs on VERY high glass buildings, computer wizardry, falling into an exhaust tunnel, sand storms, car chases, and much, much more. Lots of fun, and some humor thrown in by reliable Simon Pegg. Trust me...go see it! 4 Stars!
My only negative -- Tom needs to get a hair cut...badly.

Outside our back door....

A few of our visitors outside the back door.  One of the things that I've done since retiring is move all of the bird feeders to the yard where I can deal with them, and also enjoy the birds that visit us!  I had to buy a Texas bird book so we can identify them. Oh, and the cats are enjoying "watching" them, too!

Movie Review --- War Horse

We went to see this movie on New Year's eve.  Not one that I'd normally choose, since I was sure it was going to be a real tear-jerker, but it turned out to be pretty good.  It wasn't as bad as I was sure it was going to be, if that makes sense.

I'd give it about a "3" on a scale from 0 to 5, it had a Disney movie feel to it.  There was a scene where the horse gets caught up in barbed wire, hard to take and I had to hide my eyes for a while, but this scene brought one of the best of the entire movie, where a German soldier and an English soldier work together to free the horse.  The Englishman was played by a familiar face to those of us who love Guy Richie movies - Toby Kebbell.  The interaction between these two soldiers as they worked to free the horse was both funny and touching.

It was a good movie, not the movie of the year, but worth the time (long movie -- about 2 and 1/2 hours long) in the theater. Do take your tissues - you'll need them toward the end.