What a Weekend

So much fun, it's taken me a week to put in into words!

My wild weekend started off with these two beautiful ladies.  Kelley, Kristina and I began the night with dinner and drinks at Cyclone Anaya's and followed it up with Luke Bryan's "Huntin', Fishin', and Lovin' Every Day" Tour, along with Granger Smith and Brett Eldredge. What a fun night we had! 

I slept in on Saturday morning and only crawled out of bed when Bri called and invited me to join her and Kelli at Meagan's for the Southwest Classic Game -- Arkansas vs Texas A&M.  (The guys were golfing.)  I can't say many kind things about the game...but these two cuties made up for it.

Minnie Mouse, Babs Bunny and Ariel made an appearance.

During the game, the girls helped me put all of the finishing touches on the games for our Fellowship at Field Store Women's Progressive Dinner.  We had a great turnout (22!) and so much fun.  I laughed so much.  We are quite the competitive group...especially when it came time for the photo scavenger hunt!  There are photos that cannot be seen in public unless someone is there to explain what is happening. 

We are missing Nancy in this picture...but the rest of the gang is accounted for.

Sunday morning I drug my aching body out of bed and then to church.  We had a sweet time of worship and fellowship followed by the celebration of our 'Jo' birthdays...Jo, Joe and Joseph.  I came home to Jim's delicious brunch and enjoyed the quiet of our house.  The kids were all gathering at Meagan's for the Texans game, but I just couldn't.  I chose to stay home and enjoy my beautiful flowers instead.

Gerbera daisies that look like fall.

Instead, I curled up with a good book!  I curled up in bed, on the couch, on the loveseat...anywhere I could find a place of quiet and solitude.  And I had read the WHOLE THING by the time I went to bed Sunday night!

Young Jane Young: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin
(Fiction)

Un-put-down-able book of the year for me!

This was my first book from The Bookshelf Thomasville's 'Shelf Subscription, an independent book store in Georgia whose podcast ('From the Front Porch') I listen to faithfully. I did a happy dance when I opened my first package to reveal not only a book I had been wanting to read, but an autographed copy!

This is the story of a political affair between an older politician and his intern, BUT from the viewpoint of the women caught in the storm.  We hear from the mother of the intern, the intern herself, her daughter and the politician's wife. The story jumps back and forth in time (thus the daughter) revealing a little more of how each person played a part in the outcome. I found it to be well written and to bring up the conversation of how the politician moves forward with just an asterisk by his name while the women never truly recover and find themselves as either the butt of the joke or the one that bears all the blame and shame.

I would love to sit down to discuss this one with someone soon.  I thought the author did a great job of neither condoning the affair or excusing either party while still asking the questions about power, fame, responsibility and naiveté.

Aviva Grossman, an ambitious congressional intern in Florida, makes the mistake of having an affair with her boss--and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the beloved congressman doesn’t take the fall. But Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins: slut-shamed, she becomes a late-night talk show punch line, anathema to politics.

She sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. This time, she tries to be smarter about her life and strives to raise her daughter, Ruby, to be strong and confident. But when, at the urging of others, Aviva decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet and catches up--an inescapable scarlet A. In the digital age, the past is never, ever, truly past. And it’s only a matter of time until Ruby finds out who her mother was and is forced to reconcile that person with the one she knows.

Young Jane Young is a smart, funny, and moving novel about what it means to be a woman of any age, and captures not just the mood of our recent highly charged political season, but also the double standards alive and well in every aspect of life for women.

★★★★☆

Week One of Summer Was a Success

We made it!

Jim and I actually managed to spend the first week of our summer at the Creek House! 

We met Meagan's and Bri's families down there for Memorial Day weekend.  Kelli and her kids came on Sunday to celebrate Dayton's 3rd birthday.  Everyone left on Monday, but Jim and I stayed until the following Monday, when we had to head back to Waller in order to prep for a trip to Branson to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday.

We made the 2 hour commute in to the office two days last week.  It was a great time to catch up with one another.  He drove in the mornings and I drove us back in the evenings.

We spent a wonderful, quiet week together for our 36th anniversary.  We found some great summer recipes that really hit the spot when you're on the water.  And we drove over to Matagorda to eat out one night when neither of us wanted to cook.

The Internet and cell phone service down there is 'spotty' at it's best and non-existent for the most part.  This means few texts, fewer phone calls and the probability of checking your email is pretty much 'nil' unless you drive down to the Dollar General. 

We got lots of rest.  Slept like logs.  Did a little fishing and crabbing from the dock.  Watched a few movies.  Fought a few (thousand) mosquitoes.  Took the boat out for a ride on the creek. And  I read two novels. (Woo Hoo!)  

So far, so good!  I am looking forward to a great summer and hoping that we are able to spend the rest of June's weekends down on Caney Creek (once we return from Branson, that is).  Even when the storms rolled in on Sunday, it was still beautiful!

I love my happy place!

I hope you are looking forward to something that renews your spirit this summer too!

Designing Summer

Our Little Miss Watermelon Baby

Bailey Rae

Today is the last day of instruction for most of the public schools here in the Greater Houston area of Texas.  That means, despite the calendar's evidence to the contrary, summer begins TOMORROW!

Yesterday I logged on to my Facebook to see Bri's picture from Sargent. Is it not the perfect representation of summer here on the Gulf Coast? 

• Beach?                      CHECK!
• Swim suit?                CHECK!
• Pony tail?                  CHECK!
• Watermelon?            CHECK!

This has me thinking about how I want to spend my summer this year.  Jim and I no longer have kids in school, so it is easy to just let summer pass like any other time of year.  Work, home, work, home...maybe a weekend trip here or there.  No big vacation plans.  No real change to the schedules or routines.

BUT THIS SUMMER....

I want to do something a little different. 

Make some plans. 

Change up our routine to enjoy the longer days.

I'm trying to convince my husband to make more use of our new place on Caney Creek this summer.  We are trying to keep our June weekends empty of outside commitments so that we can spend them in Sargent...fishing off the dock...reading on the porch swing...taking the boat to dinner...making homemade ice cream...maybe, I'll even get a bicycle to cruise around on. 

I also want to make time for family and friends, and for making new friends.  I'm thinking over so many ideas for connection and fellowship...inviting people to lunch...having the older grands down for a Cousins Camp...maybe even having an old-fashioned fish fry one weekend.

I think this quote from Darell Hammond sums up my hopes of summer:

Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility.  It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.

How about you?

Any special plans for your summer?

Any ideas on how I might have the summer of my dreams?

What I Did In October

Grandmas Gone Wild 2016

I visited South Padre Island for five days and four nights of making memories with two of my longest and dearest friends.  Not our usual trip but one of us had never visited South Padre before, so it counts!

View from our balcony

At the pool

This is where we spent most of our time!

The Sapphire from the pool

The best place for a morning cuppa is looking out over the water.

CCA Awards

Attended the CCA Awards where one of Jim's fishing buddies won a new boat and trailer for the largest recorded Speckled Trout during the 2016 STAR Tournament.

CCA = Coastal Conservation Association; STAR Tournament =State of Texas Angler's Rodeo

Thad with his plaque.  The boat and trailer were in the parking lot.

Sargent Weekend

Pappaw and Sweet Bailey Rae

Blanket time in the front yard with Bailey and Carter (and Jennifer, too)

This should just say:

"My Happy Place"

Added a little décor to the porch to make it ours.

"The Strategy of Pairing" (as Gretchen Rubin would say)

Took care of my annual check-up and rewarded myself with dinner and a movie (Storks) with the Ham & Rodgers families.  I did not take a single picture, but we had a blast hanging out at the arcade and then we had the WHOLE THEATRE to ourselves.  We could pick out seats and run around during the movie without bothering a soul.  A good thing since this was Dayton's first trip to a movie theater. 

Abundance: Frisco

This year was Conference Year for our ladies retreat and we decided on a trip to Lifeway's Abundance with speakers like: Angela Thomas-Pharr, Curtis Jones, Lisa Harper, and Lysa Terkeurst.  It is a rather new addition to their conferences and was given a thumbs up by all ten of us!  There was a long road trip, shared cheesecake, honest conversations and ice cream surprises to mix with all the laughter.

Fellowship at Field Store Ladies Retreat 2016

My girl and I

Loved our t-shirts this year!

Thanks for the great design, Peyton!

Teaching a much younger woman (and friend) the glories of Snapchat!

I felt so hip!

Vintage Market

Met up with Robin and Stacy for a fun day at the Market. This was my first visit to the one at the Waller County Fairgrounds.  I feel like Goldilocks in that it wasn't too big or too small, it was just right!  Got some great finds but didn't take pics our adventure. We shopped and shopped, then we drove in to Chappell Hill for lunch at Bevers Kitchen. Yum!

My Vintage Market find of the day:

A box springs tree for the seasons

Brooke's 9th Birthday Brunch: Unicorns

A donut cake for our 9 year old granddaughter

Bailey's 1st Birthday Party: Boho

Bailey and her smash cake

Halloween After Party

They all gathered to go trick or treating about 20 minutes from the house.  Afterwards they came out for dinner, a hay ride through the woods, Halloween Bingo, Pumpkin decorating and Hocus Pocus.

From the back: Kelli (Scarecrow), Bri and Bailey (Twin Pin Up Girls), Meagan (Sugar Skull), Dayton (Half Beard Pirate)

Middle Row: Maddux (Storm Trooper), Brooke (Cleopatra), Davin (Storm Trooper)

Front Row: Ellie (Spider Girl), Delayne (Mermaid) and Weston (Captain America)

AND Lots of Razorback Football: For Better or Worse!

Alcorn State - W

Alabama - L

Ole Miss - W

Auburn - L --- with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an L on her forehead!

The older grands built a fort during one of our football gatherings...complete with fire pit!

The Miracles Of Spring

Last fall, I suffered a yearning for 'home'.  Southeast Arkansas 'home'.  Grandma & Grandpa Fulton 'home'.  A 'home' that no longer exists outside of memories. 

I wanted to transplant some of those memories to our home here in Texas.  Since I couldn't make it back to Hamburg before November, I did the next best thing.  I went to Lowe's and bought daffodil bulbs. 

If you knew my Grandma Fulton at all, you knew that her yard in Spring was a sight to behold.  Daffodil's lined the front border, along with beautiful Vinca that grew throughout the trees and over the ground.

So last October I stuck bulbs in every open space I had.  Including the Chinese water buckets that sit on our back doorsteps.  For the past two years these pots have held my Gerbera daisies.  But, during last year's drought, I finally gave up on trying to keep them watered.  Before that, bronze mums called these pots home...but I moved them to their new home in 2010.

The daffodil's leaves began peeking out in February...but for whatever reason, they never made it into bloom.  So imagine my surprise when I got home on Monday evening from work and saw something red in that planter.

Y'all, I haven't had petunias in those buckets since Debbie and Casy were here with us.  That was 2008!!!  I was just looking back over some blog posts and in May of 2009 I had found some of these growing freely on the ground next to the deck.  Wow!  If I had been trying to keep them alive...they would certainly all be dead!

And that's not all.  While I was admiring the two resurrection petunia plants, I noticed a beautiful green leaf UNDER the deck.

It seems that someone (probably the infamous 'Not Me') had knocked the Christmas amaryllis off the ledge and it had fallen under the deck.  I found the empty pot months ago and threw it away.  Yet here was the bulb in a small amount of potting soil --healthy and newly sprouted! 

Maybe this is the secret to beautiful flowers in our yard.  It is not so much about how we plant, but what is hardy enough to survive me! 

Oh, and those daffodil's...well a few bulbs did come into bloom out in the front bed.

 While I was out taking this picture, I also noticed that the star jasmine is blooming again too.  Three years in a row!  Woo hoo!  There is hope for my daffodil's yet!

 Now, if I can just get my gardenia to bloom like Grandma Jenkins' always did!  Beautiful, sweet fragrance to meet me at the door on a summer afternoon.  Here's hoping!!!

(This picture has nothing to do with today's post...it is the flag hanging at the front gate and I just thought it looked rather majestic this morning!)

Treasures of the Season: Part 4

On the weekend before Christmas, we made our second annual trip to Santa's Wonderland to see the lights.  It was such a treat for me to have ALMOST the whole family there for the trip.  We were only missing Jim and Matt.  I won't bore you with a lot of commentary...I'll just let you enjoy the pictures!

Maddux, Davin and Brooke with their light-up swords.
This was worth the price of admission!

We even got to see a REAL reindeer before he headed back to the North Pole to help Santa with the flight around the world.
52 points!  Jim says it looks like his horns are attached to a Great Dane!

My babies!
I couldn't convince them to get a picture made with Santa...but they did agree to one in front of the Texas flag in lights.

Brooke had her picture made with Marshal Frost.

We ate LOTS of kettle corn!

We went on a hayride to see the lights.

We went on a pony ride.
Look at that smile on Davin's face.

Maddux kept yelling out, "Yee haw"!

And Brooke waved to the crowd like a true Rodeo Queen.

We then went to pet the animals.

Or kiss them, as the case may be.

Then we stopped for a funnel cake the size of your head!

And warmed up with some hot chocolate or hot cider...whichever you prefer.

And then it was time to head home.

And God bless us all...each and every one!

Hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. Thanks for letting me share the things I treasured this holiday season!

If You Saw A Heat Wave...

...would you wave back?

I just heard on the radio that the Greater Houston area is expecting triple digit temperatures today...FOR THE 23RD DAY IN A ROW!!!!!

The previous record of 14 consecutive days was set in 1980.

Oh, and those triple digit temperatures?  They are supposed to last at least through the rest of this week!

My goodness it is hot out here!

Here Comes The Sun

Can you believe it is already March 2? I can't!

It seems like Christmas was just last week. Then there was Will's birthday, followed by Meagan's, followed by Maddux's...well, you get the picture.

We are experiencing some wonderful weather here in Houston this week. The nights are a little nippy still...which I love...but the days are sunny and warm.

In fact, it is so nice outside that Jim and I have already started thinking about our garden. We spent last Saturday shopping (yes, Jim shopping!) for a disc harrow and a middle buster (you knew there was going to be a catch to him shopping, right?). While we were at Tractor's Supply, I picked up a gardening book. (Of course I did! I have to read about everything, don't I?) This one looked too good to pass up. I bought The Week By Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook. This is a book that lays out your growing season according to the average time of the last frost. Plus it has places for notes and journal entries...all the things I love in one place.

Jim and I are such newbies to this gardening adventure that we need even the most basic helps. And since this book is laid out by date of average last frost, we don't have to guess which date to choose from the back of the seed package for planting in Texas. (You know the ones: plant dates February to June. Okay, which one? February or June? Or sometime in the middle?)

So, after looking up the average last frost in our area, I found that we are three weeks out. Which means it is time to put out those strawberry transplants this weekend. I love fresh strawberries and can hardly wait for them to produce this summer.

Grandpa Fulton would be to blame for my strawberry snobbery. The man had a row of strawberries that must have been four foot wide and fifteen yards long. Talk about big and luscious berries!!! Those were the BEST strawberries EVER!!!! (Of course, he also spoiled me on tomatoes...as my Grandpa Jenkins spoiled me on purple hull peas!)

So, I guess this weekend will find us setting out strawberry plants and plowing up the garden spot so it will be ready for planting soon. I'm thinking we might need to get it done on Friday since the high will be 78 degrees and rain is expected on Saturday. It sure would be nice to have a good soaking rain on the freshly tilled soil. (The treated public water just doesn't have the same effect.)

We have other things going on at the house too. That will be a surprise for another day. I can hardly wait to post pictures of the completed project. I am just sorry that I didn't think to take any before pictures prior to the project beginning.

Well, Kelli is Spring Cleaning...and we are Spring Planting. What is going on in your neck of the woods this spring?

"Not So" Winter Wonderland

Today is Monday, JANUARY 17. So, why is it so warm outside? Our forecast calls for temperatures in the low to mid 60's for the rest of the week. Short sleeve weather is fine...IN APRIL! I was just wanting to enjoy a little more winter.

I know that February will bring more freezing temps and maybe even a little snow, if we are lucky. So until then, to bring a winter feeling to my southeast Texas home, I took some inspiration from Nester at 'Nesting Place' and Melissa at 'The Inspired Room' and sprinkled some winter decorations throughout my home.

The family came over on Friday evening to celebrate Will's birthday. Since Kelli and Matt arrived first, I had her help me choose a look for the mantel in the sitting room.

I was shopping my house (at Nester's suggestion) for anything white when I noticed my 8 point European mount still waiting to find a home. I think he looks quite wintry...and rustic Texan.

Next I brought out the mercury glass colored votive candles that I had picked up at Kirkland's after-Christmas sale.

I needed some height, so I filled the mini-milk jug with clear glass flat marbles left over from Meagan's wedding and pulled some blue/green sequined branches from last year's company Christmas party decorations to make a centerpiece.

I then remembered seeing some one's basket of pine cones lined with twinkle lights. Basket and twinkle lights in the storage room + a yard full of pine trees = free wintry look.

Add a little clear white beaded garland (also left over from the wedding) and the crocheted snowflakes that Lea Ann gave me for Christmas years ago...and I have the warm feeling of sitting in front of the fire even if the current temperatures discourage the use of the fireplace.

And just inside my back door:

More clear jewels with a splattering of blues and silvers mixed in to add some color. All flanked by a picture of Stacy, Robin and I enjoying our Snow Day in Central Park. (Sweet memories!)

I had purchased fresh flowers Sunday before last while grocery shopping. The roses all died, but the white mums (or whatever they are) are still looking fresh. I discarded the roses and moved the mums to a smaller vase to sit on the dining room table.

And finally, to make the outside look a little colder, I hung the white patio lights on the deck and placed a snowflake at the back door.

Winter Wonderland in 60 degree weather? Maybe not...but I like how it looks...and how it makes me smile.