This is our black walnut tree... or I should say about 3/4 of it. I took this photo on April 11. Today you can see no sky through the branches. It is droppy yellow sticky "helicopters" at the moment and is an amazing site. Every time I look out that window I think, "This is God's gift to me for not balking at staying in the smoggy city!" I do have some anxieties as the power lines run through it. In August or September the power company is supposed to come and prune. However, we are responsible for the branches over the wires coming to our house. About 1/5 of the tree may have to be removed at our expense because it lies right on the wires going to our house and the neighbor's house. This photo doesn't show how big the trunk is. It would take all five of us holding hands around the base to go full circle! On the left is a grapefruit tree that is taller than Hubby, so more than 6'3".
And these are grapefruit blossoms!
Our orange tree is budding as well. It doesn't have as many blossoms as I would like to see. I'm hoping more are coming. I need to do some reading on the care of citrus fruit.
Maisy and Heidi are doing better. Abbie does NOT want them in the house! We haven't let them out of the master bedroom yet. We are waiting until the boxes in the main living areas are more unpacked because we don't want them to get hurt or corned by their bullying big sister who likes to HISS at them! :-) This is Maisy in one of the bookcases, before it was loaded with books!
Here is Sunshine laying on our bed with Heidi. Both are affectionate but Heidi demands eye contact and is very sweet. Not only does she want affection from us, but she also gives it back! Both kittens have attached to me as their "mama"! Heidi is laying across my chest and arms as I am typing right now and her favorite place to sleep is next to my monitor! She definitely has the Siamese eyes and body shape (though obviously not the points) and Boogie keeps telling me, "I really think you have a parrot Mommy!" because she often likes to sit on my shoulder. Maisy was afraid of us at first but then one day it was like a switch was turned and she started purring and loving us and demands her affection time! lol There is no way that these kittens were strays. I think the owner just said that when he relinquished them so that he wouldn't have to pay. Four month (now 5) old kittens that are strays are not this affectionate or wanting to be with and on people!
Here's Hubby painting my kitchen for me. I couldn't get the orange out of his skin on this photo... sorry he is not orange, though he was this scruffy, being a "bum" on his time off! :-) The kitchen is a light custard or buttery yellow. I have chosen a blue and white patterned quilter's cotton from Hoffman to make valances and accents. Pictures coming later. We haven't done any more painting because 1) $$$ 2) time and 3) we are having our windows replaced on Cinco de Mayo. We have the original 1961 aluminum frames with non tempered glass. Since we essentially have a whole wall (140" of sliders and another 42" of window) in the living room going out to the back that is non tempered, we felt we should replace it before any bad accidents happened and the children were hurt! The new windows have Solarban70. I am not thrilled about having vinyl because pvc definitely has fumes. However wood windows are definitely cost prohibitive! It's bad enough with what we got, but it will be an investment in the house and hopefully our future. I'm a little apprehensive, we'll see!
I bought some plants for the yard but haven't planted yet... a hydrangea.
I wish I could say this was our yard, but it's not! This is our neighbors. The photo is taken from our front walking looking over the property line. It's so beautiful and I would love to start working towards something like this at our home.
This is the second one. The sun was really intense. They are a little bluer purple than these photos show.
Maisy and Heidi are doing better. Abbie does NOT want them in the house! We haven't let them out of the master bedroom yet. We are waiting until the boxes in the main living areas are more unpacked because we don't want them to get hurt or corned by their bullying big sister who likes to HISS at them! :-) This is Maisy in one of the bookcases, before it was loaded with books!
Here is Sunshine laying on our bed with Heidi. Both are affectionate but Heidi demands eye contact and is very sweet. Not only does she want affection from us, but she also gives it back! Both kittens have attached to me as their "mama"! Heidi is laying across my chest and arms as I am typing right now and her favorite place to sleep is next to my monitor! She definitely has the Siamese eyes and body shape (though obviously not the points) and Boogie keeps telling me, "I really think you have a parrot Mommy!" because she often likes to sit on my shoulder. Maisy was afraid of us at first but then one day it was like a switch was turned and she started purring and loving us and demands her affection time! lol There is no way that these kittens were strays. I think the owner just said that when he relinquished them so that he wouldn't have to pay. Four month (now 5) old kittens that are strays are not this affectionate or wanting to be with and on people!
Here's Hubby painting my kitchen for me. I couldn't get the orange out of his skin on this photo... sorry he is not orange, though he was this scruffy, being a "bum" on his time off! :-) The kitchen is a light custard or buttery yellow. I have chosen a blue and white patterned quilter's cotton from Hoffman to make valances and accents. Pictures coming later. We haven't done any more painting because 1) $$$ 2) time and 3) we are having our windows replaced on Cinco de Mayo. We have the original 1961 aluminum frames with non tempered glass. Since we essentially have a whole wall (140" of sliders and another 42" of window) in the living room going out to the back that is non tempered, we felt we should replace it before any bad accidents happened and the children were hurt! The new windows have Solarban70. I am not thrilled about having vinyl because pvc definitely has fumes. However wood windows are definitely cost prohibitive! It's bad enough with what we got, but it will be an investment in the house and hopefully our future. I'm a little apprehensive, we'll see!
I bought some plants for the yard but haven't planted yet... a hydrangea.
I wish I could say this was our yard, but it's not! This is our neighbors. The photo is taken from our front walking looking over the property line. It's so beautiful and I would love to start working towards something like this at our home.Blogger won't let me rearrange the order of the pictures, so this little Princess face is out of order! Princess begged to have her hair cut, so we got it in a bob again. It's kind of scruffy here because we just had it cut, but it has more body now and looks adorable. It's odd that they are identical and yet Sunshine looks funny with short hair. Hers is still long, just got the bangs cut as she decided she was tired of growing them out long. It's nice to see her face again! :-)
I also bought two rhododendrons. Rhododendrons are my home state's flower... this is so I can have a piece of home at home. I love these kind with the speckled throat!
This is the second one. The sun was really intense. They are a little bluer purple than these photos show.
On the 14th I went for my biannual eye exam. I had been telling Hubby that it was getting more and more difficult to read and that I could see my floater. Everytime I read the floater moves back and forth over the page as my eye roams. Annoying! Fortunately it doesn't hurt. I think he thought I was just being melodramatic or looking for a reason to go get new frames! :-) Turns out, it IS more difficult for me to read. My nearsightedness and astigmatism are improving. That's not uncommon especially for people like me who have extreme nearsightedness from childhood. As we age, the changes that cause the need for bifocals tug and pull on the eye to shape it another direction. So, tomorrow I go in for my new glasses... he told me I may feel sick the first couple days like when I first got bifocals because they are 3 levels stronger on one side and 4 levels stronger on the other. But, get this! I have cataracts! Okay, maybe I am getting old... it dawned on me that possibly I blogged this earlier?? LOL How can I have cataracts at 42? Well, he said could be hereditary (all my Grandparents had them but not until their 70s and 80s!) and that because of all the environmental polutions out there in today's age that he is seeing it younger and younger. Wear sunglasses! The sun also causes them. And he advised me to take Vitamin C and lutein. They are just beginning so hopefully will not progress too quickly. And I will probably quilt seeing the floater once I get the new glasses. I see it now because my eyes are working hard to find the right focal length. Okay... if the gray hair in the mirror and the bum knee didn't already make me feel old... that did!
Jack just had his second procedure to widen his esophagus and it went well. He's home sleeping it off today. The chemo and radiation is going okay. Naturally it is quite exhausting. Please pray for him... continued prayer for healing and also the stamina that it takes to go to his appointments. I know I get exhausted when I have two or three appts in one week's time.
I've been thinking about writing some of the thoughts that God has been giving me lately. His message repeatedly has been "emptiness". How odd I thought at first, but the more I have meditated on Him and this topic, the more I feel He has been changing me.
I still haven't been able to deal with the comments... I may just switch back to the regular blogger comments, but I'm not sure. I hate it when all these companies buy and sell each other. It was working so well and I got your email address with the comment and I could click, write, send. Now I just get a name. I have thought about switching to Word Press, but they are not as easy to use as Blogger for designing and they don't allow much picture usage, which is obviously a big issue for me. We'll see... I hope to be blogging more soon! I miss you all!
