Today was a dreary, cold and damp day around SW MS. What a good day to be invited to play bridge with friends. I had never been to this friend's home and what a beautiful place it was! A lovely drive to the country and this is what greeted us--something we would love to have!
They have a beautiful flowing creek in their front yard--with ducks!! You drive over a bridge to get to their front door. How wonderful is that!! It flows year found with cold spring water. That's the one thing that Ed wishes we had here on Cotton Branch. Cotton Branch flows when it rains but it's dry otherwise. How I wish I could give him that flowing water!!
November 2009
Check out my FRIENDS
- Bonnie Bruno
Photo Buffet--"arrive hungry, leave inspired". I believe you will. - Chondabelle
Top notch secretary, emt and used to be babysitter! - Cream Puffs in Venice
The ultimate food blog! - Diana - kudzu + coal dust
Our "city cousin" and her husband! - Heather G. Clark
I've known Heather all her life--she's a wonderful wife, mother and friend. - Jennifer Cowart
Always my daughter; now too my friend. Amazing person who can do it all! - Joddie Spring
My caring, Christ-centered friend who makes the elderly at church feel "young at heart". - Kelly & Kenley
My amazing friend...bright, beautiful, a marathon runner!! - Tiffany Herring
#1 Daughter in Law; mother of five blended children; wife of #1 son - Trish Berg
Friends on Twitter-love her blog!
On the Bedside Table
Favorite Sites
Categories
- Animals/Pets
- BEACH
- BIRTHDAYS
- Blessings
- BloGs
- Books
- Cleaning?
- CRAFTS
- Deer Hunting
- Emotions
- faith
- FAMILY
- Farm
- FeLLoWsHip
- Flowers
- Food & Cooking
- FRIENDS
- Fun
- Games
- Gardening
- GIFTS
- GRANDCHILDREN
- HAPPINESS !
- HEALTH
- hobbies
- Holidays
- LauGHtER
- life
- loVe
- Music
- pEaCE
- Photography
- PRAYERS
- Ramblings
- Science
- sCrapBOokiNg
- SHOPPING
- Sports
- STRANGE Stuff
- STUFF
- SurPriSEs!
- Travel
« December 2008 | Main | February 2009 »
January 28, 2009
January 24, 2009
SLOW SATURDAY
Ed left early this morning and I stayed in the bed. I watched a couple of movies I had Tivo'd that I'd been wanting to watch. It was rainy and cold outside so I thought I'd made a pretty good choice. When he came in we were going to fix breakfast. I thought I was preheating the oven BUT---our Thermador Professional has gone on strike. The electrician came and it's not an electrical problem although something has shorted out. Ed and I got on the web and ordered a part for someone to put on. Guess there won't be any cooking around here for a few days! :) :) :)
We have lunch at church tomorrow with a baby shower for the granddaughter of some of our friends. I got really creative and made a couple of sweet "Taggeys". Hopefully the girls I'm giving them to won't be looking at the blog before they get them. I saw these at a major craft market during the holidays and they were pricey. My first thought was, "I can make that." So I did. And I think mine is as cute as theirs. Now I have lots of ideas for different types too!
Now, guess I'd better get in the kitchen and fix us a sandwich!!
January 23, 2009
THINGS I MAY HAVE NEVER TOLD YOU:
1. Things are NEVER dull around the Cotton Branch "Compound"!! We get strange calls asking for strange things and we usually do them (if they're legal!). Today we're the proud owners of another [our fifth] peacock that was found wandering around the county. We had a male peacock that wandered off a couple of years ago so it could be ours anyway!! :)
2. My husband has been practicing for "Dirty Jobs"! We knew we had a water problem under the house but today everything came to a head. I discovered that it was very bad; called a plumber; sent Exal after two pumps and got serious. Ed ended up under the house pumping water out (seemed like 100 gallons), replacing light bulbs, hooking up a fan to blow from one side of the house to the other and hopefully getting the place dry. We're going to replace all the insulation on the vents and move the elevator motor to the attic. And--that's just the beginning. After three hours, he crawled out and smiled at me. What a sweet man!! 3. And did I mention that things are NEVER dull at Cotton Branch??
January 22, 2009
TODAY'S A GREAT DAY!
This is what the face of a woman looks like who has just been told that all of her scans are clear and that her tests are all negative! She will have to come back every three months for checkups and she is a healthy woman!! No more treatments--no cancer at this time. Praise God for His goodness and thank everyone of you for your love and prayers. I have felt the "wings of angels" surrounding me for the last year. I love you all!
January 19, 2009
UPDATE ON GRAHAM
Ed and I took Sam and Ben to see Graham after lunch today. He was eating Kentucky Fried Chicken his Aunt Carol brought him. He was going to save the lunch we brought him for later. While we were there the Physical Therapist came in and got him up. The boys and I left the room and Papa stayed with him. He used the crutches to get up and walk across the room. The only part that hurt was turning around.
Tomorrow she's going to work with walking on crutches and climbing stairs. Then--he may get to come home.
He wasn't in a very good mood but who could blame him. I think he's been a real trooper throughout this whole ordeal. One minute he was having a good time riding a horse and the next minute he was in the back of an ambulance headed to a hospital for who knows what!
Graham really didn't want me to take a picture of his leg but this is what it looks like. No cast! Just a great big bandage covering the incision. Please keep Graham in your prayers--his recovery will be several months. He's a real outdoors guy and will be hard to keep "penned"! Lots of his friends have called or come to the hospital. I just hope he remembers it.
LIFE IS NEVER DULL ON COTTON BRANCH
Following a nice lunch after church everyone settled in for their afternoon activities. Ed and Vin were going hunting, Cathleen was watching football, I was blogging, and the Cowarts were roping in the pen. We got a frantic call saying that I was needed over at the Cowarts--Graham had broken his leg and Jennifer needed help. I called Ed and told him. Then another call came in a more frantic manner that she REALLY NEEDED HELP! I once again called Ed and he got there before I did. I called the Dr. to see who was on call and see what needed to be done. He said get an ambulance and head to McComb. When I got to Jennifer's the EMT's were there and an ambulance was on the way. They thought the bone was through the skin and would not move him. We made it to McComb [Shelly in the ambulance with Graham, Chonda driving Jennifer and me following behind]. There's a really long and gruelling story inserted here but I'll spare you that. Just know that the "Herring" came out of Jennifer and me and the police were sent to get the Dr. on call after an hour and a half of paging him.
Chonda took the picture of the xray over Shelly's shoulder. I can't tell much about it but I did see the xray and his femur is broken in two and the two pieces were side by side. He was lying on the bed after they gave him the first pain med. Someone had to be touching him the whole time-Shelly rubbing his head or me holding his hand. They cut his "almost new" boots off his feet and totally destroyed his jeans. I promised him a new pair of boots! :) The last pic is one of his leg as it was stabilized to the board. They had straightened it a bit before this picture. From his knee down was turned inward.
I talked to Jennifer a few minutes ago and she said that he had a good night-he slept for about four hours. He woke up hungry. That's a good sign.
Please keep Graham, Jennifer, Shelly and the other two boys in your hearts and prayers in the days to come. Learning to deal with crutches and limitations for the months ahead may be stressful.
January 18, 2009
BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR WEDDING
On Saturday Ed's cousin's wife went with me to Allan Southerland's wedding. Ed asked her to be his "stand-in" since we had company. Cathleen and I bundled up since it was an outdoor wedding. Finding Rosswood was not a problem. This was the sign on the highway.
The front of the home was decorated with grapevine and lights. Two big urns held calla lilies, roses and hypericum berries. The musicians sat on the side of the porch.
The music started playing and the wedding party began to come from behind the guests. Eileen and Tub made a very handsome couple [and Eileen is more beautiful today than the day she got married!].
Her dress was gorgeous and the coat she had on was just as beautiful. I know she was warm.
The bridesmaids were "chilling" in their chocolate brown floor length dresses. Jordan's was strapless since she was Maid of Honor. They carried cala lilies with hypericum berries. [Sorry for all the heads in front, but didn't feel like I should stand up to get a picture as the bride was coming in!]
Jordon was glad to be inside and have food! She threatened her Dad if he touched her plate while I took this picture. Wasn't she a beautiful Maid of Honor?
Their going away car was an old model Cadillac and this guy got "busted"! I couldn't tell what was inside, but I saw white paper, rice and vasaline!! Congratulations Allan and Timothy Byrd! And don't worry Eileen and Tub---they never leave, they just come back and bring more with them!!
January 15, 2009
January 13, 2009
MY HEART IS SAD
Leighton's Heidi Ho "Dooley" was born in Florida on December 19, 2007. Ed surprised me with him in March of 2008 after I was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. He had him flown in to New Orleans and we picked him up and went out to eat with friends. I've never been so surprised or pleased. After a few months of intense training he finally learned the art of "going outside to potty" and he became the joy in our hearts. Our bedroom floor is scattered with toys that he loved and he and Ed played every night before we went to sleep. He especially loved his trips to the beach. He loved riding the elevator to go downstairs to parade around the condo grounds marking every light pole and plant. He made friends with all the other owner's pets and wasn't shy about playing with the children. Dooley was the sweetest, smartest dog I've had in many many years. My heart is broken today because while I was gone to have scans in Natchez, Dooley got hit by a car. Chondabelle had called earlier to tell me he was by the highway. I had called him in and told him that was not what he should do. When I left he went outside again. I told him not to go near the highway. He just didn't listen.
People come into out lives for a season and a reason. Maybe our pets do too.
DOOLEY
December 19, 2007 - January 13, 2009
January 10, 2009
2009 BEACH SCRAPBOOK RETREAT WEEKEND MARATHON
This was our second year to attend the Scrappin' at the Beach Retreat. Pat, Libby and I left on Thursday loaded down with (most) of the materials we needed for a fun weekend of scrapping.
You can't see all the stuff because we deliberately sat in front of it. :) The first afternoon we got unloaded and settled down to "getting ready". That night was "PJ Night" and everyone came back from dinner dressed in their pajamas ready to scrap for the long haul. We stayed until midnight. I overslept the next morning and Libby got up to see the sun come up. We scrapped all day and went to dinner about 5:30. We were told by Gina to be sure to be back by at least 7:30 or 7:45 because it was a theme night [40's, 50's, 60's, etc.] and there was a special surprise. I told her to please just don't resurrect Elvis!! They told me there would be a cardboard cutout but not to worry! Well, guess who just told me a fat fib??!! After the "Hippie Chicks" (employees of GiGi's) performed--yes, Elvis showed up!!
What part of God's creation isn't beautiful? Just look at this gorgeous blue water and white sand!
This guy is the Assistant Principal of the Foley High School who does this as a hobby--he was ok, but he definitely needs to keep his day job. We kept on scrapping as he performed and all of a sudden I looked up and this is what I saw--
He snuck up on Libby and I grabbed my camera. BTW, he has a surger and makes his own scarves! We thought that was funny! The "Hippie Chick" in the white glasses is Gina who owns Gigi's Scrapbook Store in Foley and the girl in the pink hat is Jamie. They are both sweet, precious ladies. They were dressed up for the 60's night. We only stayed till 11:00 PM that night!!
This is a painted canvas class we did today. It's 16 x 16 with a red heart, ribbons, silk flowers and tags. The only thing left to do is use black marker and go around the green. We did this on a lark and it was fun. We also did an altered HUGE clothes pin with beach paper and shells. Each of us did page layouts--some more than others--but we enjoyed it tremendously. We're thankful to have family that will allow us to get away together for fellowship and girl time. Our tablemates took this picture.
This afternoon (Saturday) we left Pat to take the last class and Libby and I went to the grocery store. We bought steaks, asparagus, salad stuff and ice cream for supper. After a wonderful dinner we watched "Mama Mia" and sang and laughed along with it. What a great way to end a weekend.
January 05, 2009
SAYING A LITTLE PRAYER
Mom
January 02, 2009
2009 - A GREAT NEW YEAR BEGINNING
Ed and I have never been much for going out on New Year's Eve. We can't stay awake that long and we're really not rowdy people. We went to bed early and woke up about 4:00 AM to someone knocking on our door. A young man from Vicksburg had wrecked his vehicle in front of our home and came for help. We carried him to the hospital. After looking at his vehicle we realized he was a very lucky guy. There wasn't anything about it that was recognizable. He had angels surrounding him.
We had plans for about 24 people for lunch--the usual New Year's fare-roast pork, baked chicken, black eyed peas, cole slaw, potato salad, green beans, sweet potato pone, cabbage, mexican cornbread, pecan pie, blueberry cake--just the normal little lunch!! :)
After lunch we all settled in to listen to Anna Grace and Sarah [High Road] do a little playing and singing. When we looked at the clock it was nearly 5:00 PM. The guys didn't even miss the football games; they enjoyed the music so much. We all did. Jennifer is hoping that John Robert playing her new guitar rubbed off on the guitar and she will be able to get some of the sounds out of it. :)
These girls have great talent--some of which I will keep a great secret-unless I'm bribed to tell !! :) Only a few shall know!!
By now Jennifer probably has a video on her blog that you can see. Please check it out. And--buy their CD; you'll love it!!
Thanks everyone for a great New Year's Day celebration.
PS: The young man checked out fine at the hospital; when I talked to the nurse at noon he was waiting for someone in his family to come and get him. They said he had a "reality check". I'm sure he did. He will be very grateful for 2009.
Recent Posts
"LET FREEDOM RING" 2009 FLOWER SHOW
- As hard as I tried to do this "in order" it didn't work out. Just enjoy the pictures and know we worked hard and had fun.
Recent Comments