What a week I'm having! ;-)

Working hard to get things done. 

Welcome back, my beautiful readers. Step into my office and let me tell you all about my week.
Whew eeeeeee it was productive! I'm happy.









It just so happens that last Friday, I received a favorite quote from an Instagram friend and Blog reader of mine. She sent it to me via picture form via text, and I always enjoy when my readers, friends, and family share with me the different things that encourage them.

She wrote: Good morning. Happy Friday. I love this quote. I have always felt I got the short end of the stick in positive qualities, but maybe I need to look at and appreciate my strengths rather than bemoan my weaknesses. Enjoy your day ❤

Photo from my Instagram follower
and blog reader

As it just so happened, it reminded me of a story, a lesson Jesus taught, so I briefly shared it with her. 

I texted back: Yes. When on Earth, even Jesus pointed out the needy Widow in the temple dropping into the treasury box 2 small coins of very little value. Jesus said her gift was worth more than what the rich dropped in bcuz she gave ALL that she had, out of love, & it was counted by Jesus & his heavenly father, Jehovah, as precious. The lesson for us is to not compare ourselves to others & just do our best.

(For additional reading on the story about the Widow, find it here in the book of Luke 21:1-4)

All to often, I am comparing myself to others, and coming up short. I have health issues that limit so much of what I can do. However... after receiving the above text/motivation, and thinking about how Jesus was telling us to just do our best because our loving heavenly father, Jehovah, appreciates all we can do, even if it's just a tad, I realized that I need to not be so hard on myself. After all, I keep telling my friends "I'm gunna keep going till I can't go no more."

Of course, I had only to take my memories back to the day before to reflect on the day's activities and all that we accomplished. To get the full picture though, go back with me to a text I sent on the 21st to a former employee of mine who I sold my mowing business to last mowing season, Chris S. I sent him that text because I recognize my limitation and know I am not capable of doing the work any more. Chris text me back, from NYC, (I love that place) and said he's be back Wednesday. In the mean time, I told Papa what I had in mind and he went one better with the idea to hire all the boys from Coyote Creek Handyman Service to come out and just tackle it all at once. Great Idea! (Wished I'da thought of it.) And sure enough, they came out Thursday. (The day before the inspiration quote from my Instagram follower.)

Apparently these are termites.

To say we 'Busted it Up!' is an understatement!!! It is amazing what cha can get done when ya have a ton of help! One of the things Papa had done was, he put Felipe to cleaning out the shed, after he put our grill together that we purchased from Sam's Club.  (We all have our priorities, aye?) Time was against us on getting that put together, and Felipe did a great job.

(Note to self: if you have to store it for more than 6 months, ya don't need it.) Most everything in that shed was thrown out, and all the aluminum cans I gave to my son just for hauling it off, along with some patio furniture I wasn't using and was taking up way to much space in the shed. IJS!!! We found a lotta interesting stuff in 'that there' shed, to include termites munching away on a cardboard box... 'Get the Camera!' I didn't wanna hurt them, so I left them to tend to their box, Queen termite lady and all.

Wasp nest found inside
a bird feeder.

I even found a wasp nest inside a bird feeder. No surprise there, them wasps can build anywhere.

Of course, it didn't take me long to realize that the crew would be working all day, and we had some friends stopping by to drop off their dog so they could go on a vacation trip, and I had text them with our plans saying "It's desperate spring cleaning outside, out here. I need help physically," so they stopped at Taco Bell and bought 3 of the $5 deal box thingies. I can tell you right now, feeding 4 working boys and 3 guests, that was not enough food. We feed the works first, and us onlookers ate what they left behind.

We had the upper driveway gate that needed a post replaced, and our son Mike got to it. Little did we know that it was an all day project. Posts had to be replaced and relocated, ditches dug to run wire, and Mike only knows what all else was done. Yep... all day on that pesty gate. But hey, I'm happy. The gate is working again so I can take the fur-babies for a walk with me out the back door and I don't have to worry about them running off into the woods and not coming back, which has happened in the past a time or two, hence all the fences.

That Chris supplementing his sugar intake
with a banana from my kitchen table.

Oh, and did I mention they had a fire going in the woods! I was freaking out cuz I didn't want to have to call the Fire Department for an out-of-control fire, (did that once before on our property and burn about 10 acres) but I had to admit, it did and does look much better now.

Chris, Mike, Papa, and Felipe moving
the really heavy deck.

Can you tell which side received sun
and which side did not?

The heaviest project was the front porch. It needed to be moved from one point of the yard to the front door. And you know me, I had to take pictures as proof they were able to git' er dun...

I was even able to see the power of sunlight once they moved the deck and exposed the growing grass underneath. (You know me, get the camera again!) I have since then been enjoying my new deck. Just the other night, I was able to step out and observe a clear sky... I was able to see stars, y'all!!! I even seen a constellation, hint: it has the name 'dipper' in it.


The project that weighed heaviest on my mind was my very over-grown flower garden in my front yard. Years and years ago, I planted Kiwi plants, from little babies. After all these years, not one bit of fruit. Later research informed me that ya need a male and female plant. Well guess what? I don't know how to tell the difference. That, and I should have done further research on how they grow and how big they would get. They're not exactly a flower garden plant. They need ROOM to grow. As of last summer, they had vine-ed their way to killing everything else planted in the area, save the perennial flowers. I wanted the Kiwi's dug up, outta there. Chris took a pix-ax and dug them up. I was so happy to have them outta there that I even took a picture of the sight the next day and sent it to Chris.

I text Chris:
"I can see my pretty Daffodil Flowers"
In reality, I was pointing out that
he left the pix-axe in the yard.
I'm weird like that.

Chloe is standing where a Kiwi plant
used to be. I'm happy!

A screen shot of the
end of my day!

By the end of the day, my back was really protesting all the walking around I had done, all up hill, both ways, supervising the work. After all, Papa said they the boys were there for me, and make sure I got all the work done that I needed. I got to the point that I was caring around my fold-up lawn chair, and I could walk if I had a shoulder to rest my hand on to help support my core. When I finally got to sit down in my favorite recliner and check my 'S Health Challenge' on my phone, I couldn't believe the steps I'd put in! I really hadn't done that in a looong time!

So yeah, even though I didn't feel like I could do much but supervise (be bossy) i actually accomplished more than I though I could. Hey, things could be looking up... who knows!

On Saturday, Papa and I dressed up in our 'Sunday Best' to head out into the ministry with friends. For you local folks, you'll know what I mean when I say this next, on 'Dixie Dieway' on Hwy 31W between Elizabethtown and Radcliff there was an 2 car accident. WDRB News later reported 2 people died. It was a sad thing to think about the surviving family members. So so sad.

"Excuse me sir, your truck is awesome,
my I take a picture of it?"

Of course, Saturday wasn't all that bad. After all, what day wouldn't be complete without me walking up to a complete stranger in my Sunday best and ask 'Dude' if I can take a picture of his totally
awesome looking truck (check out dem tires!) while Papa is getting gas in Scooter2. See, I can accomplish stuff!!!

On this same Saturday, I get a text from my Instagram follower and Blog reader that sent me a text explaining why she sent me a 70,000 step 'S Health Challenge!' 70,000? In one week? 70,000!?!?!? There just ain't no way!!! Even Papa said that I would have to get 10,000 steps a day to get the 70,000. But hey, the things I will do for a friend. 10,000 a day!?!?!? 'I...I don't think I can,' I was thinking, right up until Deb whispers in my ear, 'Well, Saturday, you did get over 12,000 steps. But wait, it gets better, I except the challenge, meanwhile, I am running another 'S Health Challenge' with my daughter, which I've managed to beat 4-5 times already, (hee hee hee) and what? She's got over 10,000 steps, in one day! AAAHHH!!! She's gunna beat me!!! So I had to step it up a bit and keep going, trying to get 10,000 steps a day in, just so Bekah don't beat me at the challenge, and I tell ya, she's gunna be the death of me. So far, I've gotten 3 days in of over 10,000, but... but... I'm.not.sure.I.can.keep.it.up! Thanks, Bekah!!! ;-) But now, I gotta text my Instagram friend not to freak out at seeing me up over 10,000! She text me back and said she's OK. She is proud of the steps she's getting in, as she should be.

The screen shot from my phone.

And of course, what Tuesday morning would not be complete with out heavy rain coming in at 3 a.m., then a massive, and I do mean massive, thunderstorm coming right over the house, packing

Our valley flows with a lotta water
after a massive storm.

wind, rain, and lighting, waking every one up and piling all the fur-babies into my bed. I text Papa this: "Apparently there's no mo sleeping in dis house w a storm passing over,"followed up by 'Flash Flood Warnings' in our area until sometime tomorrow. I have lived in Kentucky long enough to witness flash flooding, flooding, and it is not something you wanna trifle with. p.s. I didn't find this part out till later, but Papa knew the storm was coming in, and instead of heading out to work right away, he stayed with the fur-babies cuz he knew they'd be scared... AAAWWW!!!

Beauty and the beast growing together.
Daffodils and Blackberry plants.

One of the trees that we leave standing
just because of it's curve.

    From our valley looking up the hill.

Wednesday was 'stay at home and get nothing done' day. Yeah, I got my walk in, but ooopppsss, laundry needed laundering! I am a bad wife! It was cold Wednesday, but who can resist taking some awesome pix... not me. So I bundled up, and froze, (yeah, what happened to that T-Shirt weather we were having?) and snapped some shots, and got back to the house freezing and my fingers were tingling... 'is this what the onset of frostbite feels like?'

Samantha Jane is starting to bud.

Weathering out the cold wind.

A close-up view of Samantha Jane's buds at Sunset.

To round out the week, because of new insurance, we have new health care providers, which means, new doctors. So today, Thursday, Papa and I headed over to Hardinsburg to meet our new doctor. That and Barkley, aka Happy Pants, my chihuahua, was weazing and caring on and needed to see his doctor as well. So while Barkley was getting a looking-at and Choc was getting his nails trimmed, us hoomans headed to our doctors for a meet-and-greet. Bad Bad Bad news, my weight continues to increase. It is so upsetting as back in 2009, I joined Weight Watchers and lost 123.4 pounds. Now, I am pert near back there. A sedentary lifestyle topped with a sprinkling of bad back and a taste for all that naught food has lead me to the decision to join Weight Watchers again. I need to change my DMA (dominant mental attitude.) So, barring any unforeseen occurrences or a mental breakdown, I will be back at Weight Watchers Friday morning. The lesson for the day: I did it once, I can do it again!

And as always, I welcome your thoughts.......