What's Happening?!

May has been an exciting month for us!

Mark Grayson opening a gift from my mom.
My Grandma in the background.

My nephew celebrated his 3rd birthday on May 5th. He is such a cute child, and I can't believe how fast he's growing up.

On May 8th I celebrated my 32nd birthday. It was book club night, and my friend Sage hosted. She has the most adorable triplets, and I attempted to feed sweet Anna a bottle before her bedtime. Little did I know that Anna is a very slow eater.  I did okay, and I am going to need the practice because...

The next morning I had an appointment with my OB/GYN to find out that I am having a baby girl! Baby Girl is due October 5th. I am about 5 months along, and so far everything has been great. I've had very little nausea although I've had plenty of the normal "symptoms" like nosebleeds and back pain. I have generally been able to keep up my normal routine. The garden, however, is a different story. I get so darn tired after working in the yard for just an hour or so. I have made some improvements that I would like to share, though, so I'll be posting garden pictures eventually.

On May 18th my brother, sister-in-law, and both nephews visited for a night in Oxford. It was so much fun! On Friday evening we walked over to a nearby pond and fed the fish some bread. We were looking for ducks, but the ducks didn't show. We had lasagna and salad and watched Wallace and Grommet. Then, on Saturday morning I made waffles, eggs, and bacon... a full breakfast. Something I never do. It was delicious. We went to the park at midmorning and had a great time playing with the kids. I really enjoyed having family visit and can't wait to do it again.

In kitty news, Walle has gotten massive. We got him a cat tree on overstock.com and put in front of a sliding door in the office. He's really taken to it. It's his favorite spot in the house. He naps on the very top platform.

I can't believe it is already June. I have exciting news about a family of foxes that have made their new home in our yard. Once I download the photos, I'll get a post together. Maybe tonight. They're awesome!

What's Blooming Now

I missed the official Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on March 15... I always seem to... But I do have wonderful things blooming in my garden.

Carolina jessamine...

Daffodils... a 2009 Christmas present from my grandmother.
Sweet olive... I love sweet olive. The fragrance is amazing coming from such a tiny flower.
Pansies...
And a peeping tom... hehe.
Also, the blog isn't the only thing around here that has gotten an update. We got the house painted. Here is a before photo from January... before the paint and before I cut back roses and lantana.
And here's an after photo.
Yep, its yellow. It is Sherwin Williams Cupola Yellow (SW7692). I have mixed feelings about it. I really did not like the peachy, pinky stucco before. My plan was to keep the color in the neutral zone but lean towards the yellow side of the color spectrum... I don't think I exactly accomplished that with this color.

On one hand I say, "Damn, that's bright..." and on the other hand I say, "Of course it looks bright now when the lawn and perennials are dormant and drab looking!" Maybe once I have some hot pink knockout roses, bright yellow, orange, and pink lantanas, purple irises, and pretty white and yellow shasta daisies blooming it won't look quite so bright. Ha, am I kidding myself?

Opinions, please?! Be honest. I neither love or hate this color, and since we really only have two walls with this paint on it (front and back) it would be easy to change. Nevertheless, I am waiting until everything greens up to make my final decision.

Merry Christmas

The weather outside is frightful! Heavy rains, strong winds, and a tornado watch. I love Christmas Eve. I got out of work early and started on my Christmas baking. I'm going to take a walk, then will get ready to head over to my brother-in-law's house for dinner and champagne.


Some scenes from my house this Christmas Eve.


The stockings are hung.

The tree is all lit up and topped with a pretty new angel.



I set out the gifts that I will be taking to Vicksburg tonight.

And I set out some homemade cookies for Santa Claus. Today I made Chocolate-Almond Macroons and Caramel Pretzel cookies.



Walle is dressed and ready for Santa to come.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Fall Flowers

We've been blessed with beautiful weather this week. Sunny, cloudless skies and highs in the lower 70s. Unfortunately, I've been so busy at work that I haven't had a chance to get out and enjoy it. Today I hope things slow down enough so I can take a lunch break and maybe take a stroll around the neighborhood.

I love having more sunlight in the morning lately. This morning I went outside and snapped some photos of some of my favorite fall blooms: my pink hydrangea and my "all-purple" Mexican bush sage.

And, I got a good photo of the neighbor's cat. We call him Meowmers. He's gorgeous, and he loves stalking the birds and butterflies that frequent my front porch.

We have a black tom cat that visits the porch, too, and we've named him Franklin. There are two more tom cats that visit sometimes, but we haven't named them. We keep Walle inside; he doesn't "cat around" with the neighborhood kitties. Walle gets excited when I open the windows so that he gets to experience the front porch, too.

The leaves are falling, and I have my work cut out for me this weekend, raking and chopping leaves for my compost. The weather is still supposed to be gorgeous, so I don't really mind the chores. I am actually looking forward to it!

Walle at Six Months

Walle is six months old now.

He is long and skinny.

He looks cute dressed up as a cowboy.

More Walle

Yes, I am still alive! It has been way too long since I've added a post, y'all. I know it!

Walle is keeping me on my toes these days. It is hard to find time to blog when there is a bad little kitten to take care of. Walle still likes to play, bite, and sleep. He has added a few new hobbies, too. He hangs out Chip's favorite drum:


He falls asleep while playing on his Kitty Pirate Ship:

Asleep with claw still caught in a toy. Don't worry, I removed the claw soon after I snapped the photo.

Then, he wakes up from his cat nap and destroys his Kitty Pirate Ship:


He also has started meowing at our bedroom door at 5:45 AM. Ah, the joys of parenthood!

In the flower garden, the shasta daisies and coneflower are in full bloom.





The Knock-Out roses are on their second flush.


And I've got lavender blooming in the herb garden.

We've harvested leeks, Swiss chard, sugar snap peas, and lettuce out of the spring garden. And we've even havested a few squash and zucchini out of the summer garden. No tomatoes yet, but I am really looking forward to those.

I have a hundred other things I need to blog about, but dinner doesn't cook itself! Tonight I am cooking pasta with yogurt and zucchini (from the garden!) based on this Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini recipe from Food+Wine. I'm subbing whole wheat pasta. Yum!

Meet Walle

Walle is our new kitten! He is 8-weeks old. He likes to bite, scratch, play, and sleep (cat nap). It is difficult to photograph him because he rarely sits still. I named him after WALL-E in the movie because I really like that movie.





He likes to sleep inside the laundry basket with our dirty laundry. I have no idea how he gets in here, but I've seen him jump out.

His favorite toys are a stuffed chipmunk tied to a ribbon and jingle bell ball tied to some leftover Christmas bows.

Walle, say "Hello" to our Blogger visitors!

Well, looks like Walle is being a little shy! Everyone, please welcome Walle to the family!