Wilf And Digby

One of my favorite blogs...





http://wilfanddigby.blogspot.com

I find this blog so entertaining. The writer use to live in Italy with his partner and two dogs. He changed the blog title when they moved to France, and then sadly, one of the dogs died. If you love dogs and loved the crazy european characters in Under The Tuscan Sun, you will enjoy this blog. Take a look.

Is It Just Me Or Is This Creepy?

I was perusing Craigslist this morning and came across this listing. It is for a little girl's bed and end table. The creepy part is why in the world would you take a picture of the bed with what appears to be a man (naked?) lying on the little girl's bed.



Here's the night stand to go with it. Definitely a little girl's room. Creepy? What do you think?

Random Thoughts

Hey, have you ever been surfing blogs and fell asleep with your finger on the "down arrow" and woke up to find the blog pictures whizzing past your eyes?

Yeah...me neither.



Here is yet another fine presentation of how well I take pictures...this was my sister Becky and I when we were in California last Spring...



Man I'm good!

Among The Homeless

We are now homeless...Will we be out in the streets soon, trudging through the snow? Lost without a home? No, we're just happy to have the sell of the house over with today! YAY!!!

One thing I will miss though, and that's watching the squirrels out in the woods in the back sneak into Steve's yard next door and steal peaches. Sometimes we're treated to watching the squirrels roll the peaches out of Steve's yard, across the open area behind our back fences, and into the woods.

Steve planted 4 peach trees when we moved here 5 years ago. One year he bragged about how many peaches he harvested, but this year the squirrels seem to have managed to cart most of them off when he wasn't looking. I guess that's why they call it "squirreling it away" when they talk about people storing things up!

Anyway, it was hard to keep a straight face when Steve came fuming out of his yard with his shorts, cowboy boots, and big 10-gallon hat on, fussing about his lack of peaches...there's a saying in Texas "Big hat, no cattle"... but in this case, every time I saw him in his get-up, all I could think was "Big hat, NO Peaches!"



You can see his peach-less trees all lined up on the other side of our fence. "Hey Steve... what happened to all your peaches???"



It's for sure we will miss the peace and quiet, but it's also a sure thing that we WON'T miss the acre of mowing needed at least once a week.



We'll miss the big soaking tub in the master bath. I could use a good soak right now with all the moving we've been doing!



And...of course...I'll miss that front row seat on the couch watching the squirrels come from those trees way out there and sneak into Steve's yard and then back out with a nice juicy peach!



As my oldest daughter Jenny used to say when she was little: "Goodbye house" ..."Goodbye flowers" ... only I'd have to add: "Goodbye peach trees and squirrels" ..."Goodbye..." Well, you get the picture!

Staging Homes For Sale

With our home sell final on Friday, we're moving into Gampy's parents house. Their house has been up for sale since they moved to a retirement community several months ago due to health problems. Their retirement community provides assistance, weekly housecleaning, all meals served in a lovely dining room, transportation to appointments and shopping etc. This allows the elderly residents to live as independently as possible in their own apartments.

Mom and Pop are hoping that by Gampy and I putting our furniture and accessories into their house, it will help it sell faster. Here's what we've done with the place:










What do you think of our work so far?

Do Dogs Smile?

Some people say that dogs can't smile or laugh, but I disagree. In the picture above, it's very clear that Wrigley is so happy to be with his family on a car ride that he's smiling away. What do you think?

Moving Day

Today Kobie (the master of handymen) is bringing some friends to help us move our heavy stuff. Our house is sold and we're moving on. I was looking at the backyard and thinking how much I will miss the peace and quiet that comes from living near our woods and the lake. Five years here is the longest we've stayed anywhere since we were kids.



Here's a shot of the rickety wheelbarrow I bought from an old couple recently. I'm sad I won't be here to see it when the flowers start really blooming and the trailing vines cascade over the sides. We decided that we must leave it since it seems sort of attached to the property, unlike the movable patio planters that we have already moved to their new home. The wheelbarrow seems more like a permanent resident even tho it's only been there a few short months.



I'm also going to miss the trees and flowers planted here and there around the place, this one especially. When it's in bloom, it's really lovely.



But then again, I look at pictures and start thinking of all the work involved with keeping up an acre of land...To get rid of the weeds in the beds around two sides of the house, I spent 8 hours on my knees putting down fabric mesh and then bark made from old tires.

I really recommend the "faux bark" made from rubber tires for any area where you don't plan to plant flowers. The rubber bark repels insects and retains it's color for years, unlike the mulch we put down around the trees, which has already lost half it's color and brought with it a variety of bugs we had to kill!



I don't think Gampy is going to miss his Saturday morning rides with his friend John Deere. The weather is over 100 degrees each day now, so it's up early if you have to mow anything.



All in all, it's been a good home. The neighbors are friendly and will welcome the new couple who are buying it. Look, one of them stopped by to say so long...see Mr. Red Bird sitting on our fence in the corner of the picture below?



Oh...shit! It's 10 minutes to 8:00 and Gampy is sleeping in today...the cable man just called to say he will be at the new place in 15 mins, then Kobie called to say he didn't have to work his usual job last night so he'll be here earlier, at 9:00 a.m. instead of 10! ...I'VE GOTTA GO!!!!

Little Mary

This post isn't about how to take the worst picture ever, although the picture above could be in the running for that contest.

No, see I was trying to capture areas around the house that are my favorites. The fireplace is one of them. I change the mantle often, but always leave the picture of "Little Mary" in the arrangements. Here she's in among my antique cowboy boots and my crown (What??? Like you don't have a crown?)



Here's a close up of Mary's picture. Her little feet are so sweet I could just kiss them. Dirt and all! My husband's paternal grandmother had a little girl who died when she was a toddler, then she had Little Mary. I can tell from the picture that Little Mary must have been adored by her mother. See how she dressed Little Mary all up, but left those cute little feet sticking out? You wonder...how must her Mama have felt to have this little treasure after losing her first little girl?

Little Mary would've been my husband's aunt had she lived past childhood. Sadly, she died when she was 3 or 4. Her mother fell apart after her death and was sent to a hospital to get over her depression because that's what they did back then. How terrible she must've felt, left completely alone with only her longing for her precious little girls.



Her sweet little face will forever remind me of what's important in life. Her cute little dusty feet will help me remember to not take myself too serious.