Fun in The Sun - Memorial Day

We had a fun Memorial Day celebration at Harold and Loyce's house.

Loyce & Madisyne

Harold jumping off the waterfall

Madisyne, Harold & Preston enjoying the hot tub


Preston


Justin and Dusty

Chad & friends Trevor and Phil Robb

Dr Report: I had an appointment this morning with my lung specialist. He said there are 2 nodules on my right lung and he does not recommend surgery. He spoke to my oncologist and they decided that I should make an appointment with the oncologist to discuss treatment with him. Will report more when I know more.

More Book Reports.........

It seems that all I've done lately is read. I checked my book journal and I've managed to read 10 books this month. If I keep reading like this I will start whittling down my stack of "to be read" books. I have so many books in that stack that I often forget why I chose them or who recommended them to me. It's hard to decide which one to read next.

After I read the 3 Montana Creed books I went to my bookshelf and wondered which book should I read next. I picked up Between Friends by Debbie Macomber. I checked out the reader reviews at amazon.com and was happy to see that the book had a 5 star rating there. I had read one other book by Macomber, Christmas Letters, and had written in my journal that it was a cute, quick read. I decided I would give the author another try. This was the perfect girl book for my generation. It was about friends who were both born in 1948. The story took them from birth to 2003. What made the book interesting was how it was written. The entire book was birth announcements, notes, letters, diary entries, journal entries, e-mail, etc. At first I didn't think it would hold my attention, but was I wrong! I couldn't put the book down! There were so many events, popular songs, books of the time, and other things mentioned in this book that it was like taking a walk down memory lane for me. I would recommend it to anyone born in that era.

Next I decided to read Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer. Last year the GRINS book club had read Spender's book, The Fullfillment. I found that book to be pure chick lit, boring and predictible. My friend Joy said we should read Morning Glory and see the difference in the books. There was all the difference in the world. How can one writer write such a lackluster book and then write one so good? This was a beautiful love story of two people who have had terrible childhoods and yet they find each other and build such a wonderful life together. This is another one that I recommend.

Now it's time to go back to the book shelf to see what will be next.

I'm a Book Snob & a Cowgirl

At our last GRINS book club meeting, a couple of members recommended a book series they had both read and enjoyed. They sounded good even though I don't read many cowboy stories. These were modern day cowboys and the stories take place in Montana (which I love), so I thought I would try them out.

I got all three of the series about the Montana Creeds. When I was about halfway through with the first book, Montana Creeds: Logan, and really enjoying it, I happened to notice the H on the front of the cover. I thought, "Oh no, this can't be a Harlequin Romance book!" I was much above reading such stuff. I made myself put the H in the back of my mind and kept reading. As soon as I finished that book, I quickly picked up the second in the series, Montana Creeds: Dylan and happily read it in two days. I have the third in the series, Montana Creeds: Tyler sitting here by me tempting me to forget about housework.

I can't believe that I am recommending chick-lit books, LOL, but these are really good. Maybe I should expand my reading to include some of these H books. I am going to try hard to get rid of that book snob label.

Cowgirl
Every time I walk into my bathroom I take a quick look out the window. I can see the back yard, the pasture out back and usually Chad's horse, or 2 or 3. About mid-morning I peeped out the window and noticed the small gate was open and I couldn't see his horse. I quickly called Chad at work because he sometimes takes his horse to work with him. He said his horse was supposed to be in the pasture. I quickly found him in my garden. He was enjoying the unwanted grass there and ignoring the veggie plants. I filled his bucket with horse feed and he decided that was better than the grass and followed me back into the pasture.

Another normal morning in small town Texas. :o)

And So It Goes.......

Dr Report: I saw my lung doctor this morning. He said the ct scan I had last week shows that the spot on my left lung has reduced in size, but there is something on my right lung and he's not sure what it is. So he scheduled a PET scan for in the morning. It may not be anything, but he wants to know for sure. The lady at the lab told me not to eat any carbs or sugars today, and to fast in the morning. I'm so hungry and trying to figure out what I can snack on that has 0 carbs! I think I'll go to the grocery store and start reading labels! LOL

~*~ NEVER ~*~

I will NEVER look at things in the same way again! Not after reading the book Crashing Through by Robert Kurson. What an amazing true story about Mike May. He lost his sight at age 3 because of chemical burns. He regained his sight after over 40 years of being blind. The story of his life as a blind man and all that he accomplished, and then the story of his feelings when he could see, made this one of the best books I've read. When I read his accounts of seeing simple things for the first time, I realized that most of us go through life not really seeing things. It was an eye opener.

There are fewer than twenty cases in recorded history in which someone was totally blind since early childhood and had their vision restored so many years later. Besides telling May's story, the book also tells the difference between how a baby and a grown person learns to see and recognize things. Totally amazing!

On my book journal I rate the books I read with 1-10 stars. This book got 9 stars.

My life: My Yaya friend, Elaine, and I went shopping in San Marcos today. We had a fun time finding some good bargains and eating at the Crackle Barrel.

My Life Revolves Around Books...

At least it seems that way. What book did I recently read, what am I reading now, what is our GRINS book club book of the month? It is nice to be enjoying a good book after having lost my interest in reading while I was having my chemo treatments.

I am currently reading Crashing Through by Robert Kurson. It's the true story of a man who lost his sight when he was 3 years old, due to a chemical burn. He regains his vision when he is in his 40's. I haven't got to the part where he can see again, but I've been amazed at all that he accomplished in his life while being blind. There are several parts of the book that have made me stop and reflect on what was written. A day later I try to remember what it was that I found so profound. Maybe I should have written it down.

If I wrote down each phrase that I wanted to remember in all the books that I read, what would I do with them? Would I ever go back to re-read them? Would I collect so many that it would be impossible to find the one I was looking for? I'll have to ask those questions to my friend, Laura. She takes notes when reading and writes down all the phrases that mean something to her. Hmmmm that gives me an idea....I keep a book journal in an Excel spreadsheet. I have columns for title, author, a few words describing how I liked the book, who recommended it and if it was a bookclub book. I guess I could add a page to the spreadsheet that was linked to a book and write the phrases on that page. But can you imagine how many pages I would wind up with? I'll have to think about that before I actually put it into action.

To explain what made me think of the above is something I read in this book. It said that getting lost is a terrifying prospect to most blind people. But the man in this book said that getting lost was the best part. He told people that he was very curious and getting lost was part of the process of discovering things. I could relate to that even though I'm not blind. I used to avoid driving in downtown San Antonio, partly because I had no idea where I was going and also because I was a little bit afraid. I do drive there now and it's become a joke that I get lost every time I go downtown. I love it because it's always an adventure!

Lavender ~ Birds ~ Blogs ~ Etc

Last night I finished the book, The Unlikely Lavender Queen, A Memoir of Unexpected Blossoming by Jeannie Ralston. This was such an interesting story of a New York yuppie who agrees, very unhappily, to move to Austin, TX with her husband. They moved there before Austin became a cool place to live. Then she again, unhappily, follows him to Blanco, TX where they live and raise lavender. All through the book I kept thinking of my sister's friend, Karen, who owns Alamosa Wine Cellars in Texas. Last year Faith and I visited Karen's winery and enjoyed visiting, looking around and tasting wines. When we were ready to leave, Karen grabbed scissors and told us we must cut some of the lavender that she had growing along the drive to their winery. It was my first time to handle fresh lavender and was such a nice experience to end our visit. To get back to the book.......Jeannie learns to love the lavender business and her home in Blanco. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially those familiar with the Texas Hill Country.

I have been watching my new bird feeders this week and have not seen a single bird stop by to enjoy them. One day a male and a female cardinal lit on a branch about 12 feet from the sunflower seed feeder and I held my breath and willed them to go have a snack. No luck, after sitting awhile on the branch they flew away. I may have to move the feeders to another spot that the birds like better. I think I'll ask the peeps in my online discussion group. They know everything! :o)

My good friend from Arkansas has started a blog, FlossieBlossoms . Susan is so talented and creative. I know I will enjoy, and hopefully be motivated, to check out her blog each day.

Our garden is doing well. The yellow crook-neck squash has many blooms and quite a few baby squash. I'm sure that in a few days I will have more squash than I know what to do with!

Inspired By A Jaybird

While Nita and I were on our Texas Road Trip, we spent one night at Jaybird's house in Waco. I was impressed with the view from her breakfast table. She had several bird feeders in her backyard right outside the window. We sat at the table with our coffee/tea and had a front row seat to the lovely bird scene. Jaybird had a bird identification book on the table, but I don't think she needs it any more. She knows all the birds in the area. In fact she keeps track of the birds that visit her yard and logs them at an online site. This past year she had more different species of birds than any one else in Waco.

Thanks to Jaybird's inspiration I now have 2 new feeders in my yard.

Suet feeder

Sunflower Seed feeder

I haven't had any bird visitors yet. At least I haven't seen any there yet. Maybe it takes a while for them to find the feeders? I also bought a bird identification book on Ebay that should be coming in soon.

I have fed the hummingbirds for years and this year I have 3 regulars coming to enjoy the nectar. I have also provided some flowering plants for their enjoyment.

While shopping for the birds, I found this cute little toad. I never buy any cutsie things to put in with my plants, but I just had to have this one.

Going Green II

Here is a distant view of my garden. Everything is growing well, including the grass and weeds!

The row on the left is potatoes, middle is leaf lettuce and right is lots of grass with onions and garlic hidden in between. We decided it was too much to hoe and the plants seem to be doing okay under the circumstances. We may harvest the onions in 2 weeks. I haven't checked the garlic yet. There are carrots on the far end, but I think they are a total loss.

This is one of the two cherry tomato plants. They are both thriving, with lots of blooms and a few small tomatoes. I am so anxious for fresh tomatoes!


Our squash (zucchini and yellow crookneck) are growing very quickly and I'm sure we will be supplying all our friends with its produce soon.

This is one of my 2 strawberry pots. I have never had luck with anything I planted in them. Finally this year I took the advice that I got a couple of years ago and put a pvc pipe, with holes drilled in it, in the middle of the pot and then put in the soil and plants. I water it through the pipe and none of the water pours out of the cups on the side. The plants seem to be thriving.

This is Serendipity. She was named and given to me by my Yaya friend, Joyce. I'm so glad that I've kept her alive! Now I'm wondering if she might want to be repotted into something more fancy.
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My Life: Jesse and I had a fun and productive weekend. On Saturday we rode the bike to New Braunfels, up River Road, and into Sattler. We ate at an Italian Bistro that we discovered. The food and the service was very good. We will go back there. We tried to find a Cinco de Mayo shirt for me, but we didn't have much luck in that part of the country.

On Sunday afternoon we worked in the garden and then went to Harold and Loyce's to go swimming. We ate a delicious meal of grilled t-bone steaks, baked potatoes and green salad.

Monday was almost a carbon copy of Sunday....more work in the garden, swimming at the kid's house and dinner there again.

I met with the breakfast club this morning. We decided to meet early to celebrate the holiday. Dorothy was the only one dressed for the occasion as I never did find a shirt. We didn't do much different at the cafe....eat, laugh and talk....like usual.

.......and so it goes.