Happy Birthday Eric!!

"And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets." Zechariah 8:5

Happy birthday, my love.

This verse fits Eric perfectly. As a child, he and his brother organized the best games I've ever heard of. They would get their friends together for bicycle fighter pilots, the adventures of Lewis & Clark along the creek in Mulvane KS, or war with all the little soldiers and rubber bands as ammunition. Mind you, this was not ordinary war. There were definite rules and no one could move their soldiers until it was their turn!!

Thanks Mom & Dad for providing a strong, stable environment for my future husband.

This photo was taken several years ago while on vacation at Biltmore Estate in NC.

Fish and tomatoes???

"We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic." Numbers 11:5
But what about tomatoes and fish?

After such an incredibly relaxing weekend, we come home to fish in our garden!! Fish? Yes, fish. Strung all through our tomatoes!

This trout line has become a gag gift in our neighborhood. If you read Petunia's Garden, you'll notice that she's posted about these little critters for several days in a row!! The joke started last Christmas when they were away for the evening. How do we welcome them home? We can "decorate" the tree outside their front door (see here)!! The lights were taken off their tree and fish went into hiding. Until now, that is!

Petunia's Gardener thinks the fish need to travel the neighborhood, but I'm not sure others would appreciate them as much as we have. Who knows? They may love them!!
(PS - There has been no scientific data which suggests illumination by fish is beneficial for growing tomatoes!)

Dances with bees

"They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished as a fire of thorns; in the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off." Psalm 118:12


Lately, we have been focusing so intently on the ground that we hardly ever looked up. Until, that is, Eric got stung by a bee in the front patio area. After looking around to see where it came from, this is what he found. The neighbor's DH estimated this as a three-week construction project.



What to do now? Counter-attack!! So begins Eric's dance with the bees.
First weapon of choice: diesel fuel. Works great for killing bees; however, leaves an awful mess on the house. And the smell is not so lovely, either.

After awhile, Eric switched to Simple Green just to clean the house off.

In case you're not familiar with this dance, here's a few moves for you to practice at home (ha, ha, ha).



Have you got it? It really is quite simple - you just let the bees lead!

Where was I during this dance? In the vehicle, of course! In one of the photos you can see the side mirror of my Jeep.

Merry Christmas!

This photo was taken of our neighbor's tree in their front yard. Before Christmas someone decided to decorate (?) the tree with unusual ornaments. Yes, that's a trout line. Thirteen fish in all and they all light up!Check out their blog for the other side of the story (Petunia's Garden listed to the right). Why do I have a picture of the tree, you ask? Hmmmmm...I wonder.