Great Grandma and the Twins

My mama came down for a few days to see her new great granddaughters. I wish we lived closer so we could visit more often. We're five and a half hours apart. I am thankful that it's drivable in half a day, but one hour would be so much better; so would ten minutes! That's how close I live to Laurel, the twins' mother and my oldest daughter.
I think Laurel and her whole family will be going to the mountains sometime this fall for a vacation. They'll be going by my parents' house so Daddy can see them, too. He would have come down with Mama this time, but his shoulders hurt too much if he sits for that long.

I hope to get away for a few days myself this fall and have my annual get-away. I love my family but need time alone to plan, regroup, give myself some pep talks, read Scripture, and pray. It does a body good!

A True Blue Flower

Here's that little garden gnome again; this time sniffing all the nectar out of my cosmos.

This little blue flower comes up wild every year in my gardens. I don't know its name, but I love, love, love that color blue. It's very hard to find a true-blue flower, but this is one. Anyone know the name of it?

Two of My Favorite Women

My mama is coming down today from Tennessee to see her new great-granddaughters. She'll be bringing fresh okra and tomatoes from her garden. She's also bringing the tomatoes she canned for Laurel and me.

Mama is a giver. I think that's her primary love language. She's not prone to giving hugs; just one when I first see her and one when I leave. But she gives in a big way of her time and energy.

When I was growing up, she made ALL of my clothes and cooked ALL of our meals from scratch plus held down a full-time job. She taught me to sew, to play piano, to clean house and cook, to garden, and many, many other life skills. She was the one who led me to Jesus in the field out behind Grandpa's barn.

The two photos of her below are in her kitchen cooking a full breakfast for us. She's an amazing woman. I love her so much that it hurts.

And here is a photo of my oldest baby with her two new baby daughters. She's also an amazing woman. Mother of six children under eight, good friend to her many girlfriends, a great listener, a contemplative, a striver of perfection, a domestic goddess, an excellent wife, and my best friend.

I'm very blessed by the women in my life and thank God that we have such close relationships. Of course Darcie, my youngest daughter, is included in this list. I just didn't write about her today because I'm always gushing about her here.

Garden Images

I went out this morning to water the Cosmos, and low and behold, there was a garden gnome waving at me. Isn't he cute?

Actually, he's my two-year-old grandson that I've been keeping while his mommy adjusts to feeding and caring for his twin sisters.

We had a small rain before sunrise which shook loose the yellow tea

olive blossoms. Now they're making a carpet on the back steps. The smell is heavenly. Too bad their blooming is of such a short duration.

Georgia History Begins in Savannah

Darcie and I spent Thursday night of last week at a B&B called The Azalea Inn in Savannah; wonderful place if you ever get the chance.

Originally booked as a 35th anniversary get-away for dear husband and myself, he said that if he's only going to be an hour away from home, he'd rather stay in his own bed. "Fine," says I. "I'll just take Darcie." And I did. I showed him.

We're learning Georgia History this year, so I thought this would be a great time and place to start.

Unfortunately, newly-turned-thirteen-year-old daughter doesn't like history. The travesty. I think she's adopted. I love history. Adore it even. Sigh....

So, my plan of attack was to walk through the historic district holding the shopping carrot over her; history first...shopping second. It pretty much worked.

This was the first time I've walked from one end of the historic district to the other. It's only about a mile one way. I do that all the time. But walking on uneven bricks and cobblestones, dodging traffic, taking endless photos, reading the map, etc. is pretty physically draining.

We just scratched the surface. Wait till she goes to Fort Jackson, Fort Pulaski, Fort Sumter, Fort Sunbury, etc. I may have to promise her unlimited use of my Visa!

Curtain Quandry

I'm giving the kitchen a mini-redo and need your opinion. Do you like the lace or red gingham curtains best?

I had the red shelves repainted white to match the walls. The blue trim color behind me at the kitchen sink is the old color. I had all that blue trim painted a lighter blue with white walls. I'll be asking for more of your opinions this week on different things in the kitchen. It looks so clean and fresh now. I love new paint! I'm also thinking about painting the floor black and white checkerboard or blue like the trim. What do you think about that? There, that's two questions to answer. Don't let me down!

Salt Cures Everything

"THE CURE FOR ANYTHING IS SALT WATER~ TEARS, SWEAT, OR THE SEA."

Isak Dinesen

Lucky for you I don't have a photo of sweat!

The Resurrection Life

"Grant me more and more of the resurrection life: may it rule me, may I walk in its power, and be strengthened through its influence." -The Valley of Vision

More Twin Love

We just can't stay away from these babies. They continue to gain weight and are doing very well.

And yes, I took the self-portrait, which wasn't easy.

Here's my baby with a grandbaby.

Goodbye to the Pears

We had a fun morning picking the last of the pears. The deer have helped themselves to the ones on the lower branches, so in order to get the high ones, I drove my pickup truck under the tree, stood on the top, and picked pears.

I put Darcie up high with a broom and had her gently knock them down. Since Tyler is 6'3", I had him on top of the truck picking and dropping them down to me on the ground.

I've made a pear crisp for breakfast two different mornings. Last night for supper we had stewed pears. They're almost like eating candy they're so sweet.

I've frozen some and canned some. The pears are gone. So is my guilt about putting them up before they rot. Some did rot, but I put up a lot of them which is better than I usually do!

Samuel Johnson and Me

Reading James Boswell's Life of Johnson is on my bucket list. I hope to start it this fall. Here's a photo taken at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Shop in London where Mr. Johnson and I hung out one afternoon. That's him in the painting. This pub was also a favorite hangout of Charles Dickens.

Wouldn't you have liked to have been a barmaid and listen in on the conversation around the table when these literary giants came in for a pint?