Yard progress! Garden Pics

The only day of no rain for the week so it was outside work today! Christina mowed the front yard and did a fair amount of raking to try and get the thatch out of the front lawn. I'd say 3/4 of it got done. I did a bit of the thatching in front and mowed the back yard and got the front bed weeded and some roses out back trimmed and .... filled two yard debris containers. My neighbor was very kind and offered his, pretty much empty one, when he saw us working out there. (I think they were ecstatic that the yard was finally getting taken care of since this was the first time that it got mowed this year!)

I've decided that I simply need to do that now and again, no matter how much work there is! Yard work is a huge de-stresser for me. I really do love gardening! Sure I'll be working a bit longer hours in the evenings this week while it's raining but it is well worth it! :)

Some of the yard work doesn't show in the back yard pictures since I did it after I took the pictures. The daffodils were some of the biggest I've ever had! I'm wondering if it's because of the winter was warmer over all?  The other odd thing was how dry the grass was! It rained Friday night/Saturday morning and when I put it in the bin it was basically completely dry. That almost never happens in March, much less April!!

Tulips in full bloom! Everything is so early this year!!

First rose bloom of the year! Before April!!! Pretty unreal.

This is the rose bush I got for my Birthday almost 5 years ago. Quite a nice bush now! (Notice how dry the soil is in the planting box? Almost never is that dry before Mid-April to May)

Rosemary anyone????

Our handsome boy thoroughly enjoying the sunshine! As long as there isn't another cat in the area he does very very well!

A faithful finish/Pic's

We went to a funeral today. Second one this week actually! Both finished faithfully and are now with their Father. I didn't know the first one well but I did get to know the one that we went to today. He had such a wonderful attitude even in his dying days. There was just an acceptance of what was happening and an anticipation for the final breath because it meant going to a much better place. He was a maintenance man for many years at a mill and it was mentioned that is a lot of what our life is about keeping the maintenance up through prayer. It helps negate the effects of the down times in life. There will still be down times but it keeps one going with a much better attitude through the down times! I do love our funerals. They are so inspiring! And I saw a lady that I knew growing up! It's been years since I last saw her! She mentioned that her daughter and her family we're coming to meetings again. So very good to hear!!

I also babysat the girls last night so I'll attach a couple of pictures. It's hard to believe that Teagan will be 3 here in a couple of weeks!! That toddler look is definitely not there anymore!! And does anyone have doll clothes they want to get rid of??? Neither of my girls were into dolls but both of Erika's girls like their dolls. So I'm thinking that would be a pretty neat B-day present for Teagan!

Teagan's having great fun! :)

She's being a silly girl here. Nope, I'll stick my tongue out grandma!!

Look grandma! I got the my glasses on! :)

And here's my baby. :) She decided she wasn't getting enough attention. Hard to believe but she is now almost 11 which means Pippy, my other cat is 12.

Really???

So that bug that has been going around finally got me. :( Not too bad so far since I've been hitting with all that I can but now is not exactly a good time!! (Although is any time really a good time to get sick??)  So I gave myself the day off and layed low. As a result I made decent progress on a project I've started working on. The lettering is now completely done. I really like the saying. I'm not sure if they realize just how true this is.

Mom's update

My mom went home today. She's weak but feeling a bit better. The problem is that they really don't know why her heart kept stopping! They've adjusted her medication and she hasn't had a heart stoppage since Wednesday, which is good. They decided to hold off on the angioplasty because of how much her heart has been through this week and the tests show that there isn't a blockage, thus not an emergency. Most likely they will do that procedure in the next week or two. So for now she's good and we hope that whatever happened doesn't happen again!!

News about my mom

My mom went into ICU yesterday. :(   Her heart stopped and restarted, thanks to her defibrillator that was put in with her pacemaker, 11 times between Friday and yesterday. It sounds like nothing happened today luckily. I'm very thankful that my brother and sister-in-law have really stepped up and taken care of everything. So far all we know is that her heart is weaker then it was when the last echo-cardiogram was done a year or two ago. Tomorrow she'll have an angioplasty so we'll know much more at that point. She's pretty weak right now needless to say! My dad is being a trooper though!! We just never know what the next day will bring!

I'm so thankful all can be left in my Father's hands!!

In other news Christina has picked up the pace for learning French! She now has a tutor and is really enjoying it. :)

Gorgeous day! Garden pictures :)

What a gorgeous day yesterday!! I've gotten out a little bit. I'm trying to get my lawn prepared for reseeding so I got the final spray done today.  Now to let it do it's work on the weeds for the next couple/three weeks then time for throwing seeds on it. The front lawn is really starting to look horrible since it got scalped in area's last year. The rain held off until the afternoon today so I think what I put down should be fine. Guess I'll find out for sure in a couple of weeks! :)

Scarlet's diabetes is on a roller coaster again. I have a feeling that she may be growing. It sure makes it hard to know exactly how much insulin to give before dinner. Some days 1/2 dose works if dinner includes pasta, other days, like yesterday, it takes a full dose. We'll see what tomorrow brings! (I babysit her Wednesday's and Friday's for now) It's hard to believe but Teagan will be 3 in just under a month! She's getting to be such a big girl! She was helping me yesterday with Scarlet's blood sugar stuff. Very cute and helpful!!

Bleeding hearts in full bloom!

My other Bleeding Heart.

Different kinds of Daffodils. 

A close shot of one of the Daffodils 

One of my flower beds

An almost cleaned up raspberry patch! Just need to finish getting rid of the ones that i took down.

A Lilac bud!

This is my Bay leaf tree. It's getting quite big!!! I've had it for a good 6-8 years now!

Morning thoughts

It's became real again to me this morning that my Father has created a little bit of him in me, my soul. If I'm focused on this life naturally and not feeding my soul then when eternity comes my soul will be lost because I've been much more interested in what I want then what my soul desperately needs. It will then be crying for it's creator (my Father) through eternity. Thus why it mentions that there will be mourning and weeping in eternity. Right now the busyness of life can cover up the souls cry for it's creator but in eternity there's no longer anything to drown out that cry and that cry becomes the focus. On the other side if I'm willing for what my soul so desperately needs, it's creators will to be done and love, then there will unspeakable joy in eternity. It's been very real to me that I need to be focusing on what my soul needs. It's much, much too easy to get caught up in the daily events of life and lose focus!!!

Bit bummed!

Erika took Scarlet in last week for another MRI and at the same time had a blood draw done for Von Willebrand. The scan is the same as last time which is good, there was one difference that was there the first time and they attributed it to the diabetic coma, it wasn't there in November but there's a little back this time (a fluid name that I'm pulling a blank on). So back to the neurologist in a few months to check on development, although she's doing just fine development wise right now. The big bummer is she tested positive for Von Willebrand, type 2b we're assuming since that's what Erika has. :(  It's an inherited bleeding disorder. Erika has it, Dave has it, Grandma B. has it.  So not only does she have diabetes she has the bleeding disorder, quite the bummer for a diabetic!!!! It does explain why she bleeds when she's teething, not a lot but there is definitely bleeding! It also explains the easy bruising when insulin shots are given. So over the years she will simply have bruises that seem to come out of nowhere. To this day Erika has bruises that can get huge and yet she has no clue where they came from. The poor kid! I babysat her today and she's either getting sick or teething. So she's on short lasting insulin since that triggers ketones without fail and sends her sugars skyrocketing.

On another note we are having the most gorgeous Spring we've had in a very, very long time! The daffodils are in full bloom, the tulips are in full bud so probably will start blooming soon. My honeyberries are blooming. The really bad part is the snowpack is pathetic this year so I have a feeling this will be a really bad summer water wise, unless we have a cool wet one. We'll see what the next several months bring! But I do think I'll be planting my lettuce soon!! Today was in the mid 60's and this weekend is supposed to be around 70! April weather in March.

The thought that has just really stuck with me is time reveals what the days conceal. I can think I'm doing so good but in reality I'm struggling inside to do what's right and if that struggle ends in defeat and not victory time will reveal that unwillingness for my Father's will to be done. Sure, for a time, the defeat can be hid but after a while it becomes quite obvious. I'm also very thankful for the assurance that no matter what happens, as long as I am willing for his will, then all will be work out exactly the way it should.

Tomorrow I'm going to be posting my garden pictures once again. :)