Look Mom Look.......

The Laundry basket is empty!!!!!

The Washing Machine is empty!!!!!!

The Dryer is empty!!!!!

3 hours later the basket is filling up again. Are the neighbors sneaking in and putting their clothes in our basket???? :-) Laundry, even with only two people is never ending!

This photo is a butterfly house that my mom gave me. I put it together and placed it with the butterfly plants. It really looks so cute there. By the way the bird house that my dad built and we placed on a fence pole has a bird nesting there.

And finally these are the plants I am going to put along one side of the deck. They are a blue flowery bush type plant which I have always loved.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. More later

Bye Bye Mom and Dad

There goes Mom and Dad heading back to Marble Falls after breakfast at IHop on Sunday. They arrived on the 14th and stayed for 8 days! I loved having them visit even though I had to work and Dad and Ken were building the new deck. The deck turned out just beautiful and we are enjoying it so much. In about 30 days we will be spraying it with a water sealant and then spray it again a month after that. I never realized the wood had to dry out first. It seems there is moisture in the wood and it has to dry out before you put a sealant on. You learn something new everyday!

I love the gate they built and added to the deck. Its a great addition to the deck. I don't have to worry about Magic going down the stairs without us knowing about it and the gate will also keep my nephew Tyler, who is 5, from also going down the steps without us being there. As you can see Dad and Ken pretty much worked non stop to get the deck done.

Here is the completed deck. Just beautiful!! Once we get it sprayed, I will adding flowering plants or bushes around it.

Another photo of the completed deck. I am glad we did not take down the oak tree in front of the deck. It adds so much wonderful shade.

Here is a view of the house now with the deck built

On Saturday while mom and I enjoyed our favorite past time......shopping, dad and Ken built this picnic table and I picked up the red chairs from Garden Ridge. The purple fly swatter was something my mother wanted to kill flies with. She is a serial fly killer, her motto.... the only good fly is a dead fly.

Sunday morning before we went to IHop, Ken and Dad enjoyed themselves drinking all of Mom's hot tea. After her shower, she came looking for some and the pot, as you can see on the table, was empty. Nothing like being thrown under the bus........right mom???

I went to Home Depot and got a new light to go with the new deck. The light that was there was pretty bad. This one looks great and was only 39 dollars.

While I was at Home Depot, I found the glass tile that will become the back splash in the kitchen. I just love the color, it goes beautifully with the wall color which is a silvery blue gray. I am going to have to buy it 5 squares at a time because it is 9.98 each. I am hoping it will only take a month and a half to get what I need, but if it takes longer, it takes longer. Ken (and hopefully Dad will come help) will have to read up on installing this tile.

To Dad and Mom, thank you for the deck, it was a wonderful, wonderful gift. Even though it was hard work, Ken had fun building it with dad. We can't wait to show it off to our friends when they come over. We did so loved having you here and were sad when you had to leave on Sunday. I came home from work on Monday and there were no clothes magically washed and folded, sitting on my bed like there was last week! LOL Hurry back so we can all enjoy the deck together.

My parents, Chief Master Sergeant John Ceil Burgess Jr. retired and Joan Normille Burgess

I Love You Mom!

While my dad and husband have been working on the new deck this week my mother has taken over running the household while I have been at work. She has washed clothes, as a matter of fact my mom has never met a washing machine she didn't love!! :-) She has also made sure Dad and Ken have plenty of water, tea and food, the floors are swept and mopped and when I get home the table is set and dinner is ready. This is her way in assisting in the deck building process. My Mom is she great or what.

Here she is Joan Normille Burgess....my Mom.
Mom and Dad, aren't they a cute couple. :-)

And speaking of the deck when I got home on Wednesday, they had more of the railing done around the deck.

Here we went ahead and hung up the Bougainvillea so we could see how it is going to look. I will take it down when we are ready to waterproof the deck in about 3 weeks.

More to come tomorrow!

A New Deck

My Dad and Mom came in this past Friday so my dad could build the deck he designed for me, of course he has the help of my husband, Ken and my brother Jimmy came over on Monday to help also. The deck is being built off the dining room which has a door that leads outside, but it is one heck of a first step to get there! :-) I have posted some photos of the what they have done each day. On Saturday my dad and Ken went and bought all the lumber they were going to need and at this point I have to mention that Mom and Dad are paying for this deck. Ken and I are overwhelmed with this gift from them. We did not think we would be building a deck for another year or so with all the other things we need to do at the house, so this is a god send. We will be able to eat outside when the weather is nice, something we just love to do, and we certainly will enjoy sitting out there watching the fireflies, birds and maybe even the deer if they get use to us sitting there. Anyway on Sunday, my dad started digging the holes the posts were going into while my husband ran back to Home Depot to get something they forgot.

My dad is going to be 78 in June and he can dig holes with the best of them! Of course he knows how to pace himself.

The photo below shows where the deck is going on the side of the house. You can see the big step down I was talking about.

Ken and my dad are cutting the lumber that will be used in on the deck.

I had to work on Monday and when I got home, I found my dad and brother standing, well my dad standing and my brother sitting on the unfinished deck. They sure got a lot done.

After I got home on Tuesday, I found they had fastened the flooring of the deck down and built the rails on one side of the deck. The wooden bar that runs across the top will have 3 handing baskets there.

This other photo is also from Tuesday but shows the deck from the other side.

I am very anxious to get home and see what they have done today, there will be lots more photos coming.

The weekend and other things

The weekend started out great with school getting out at noon on Friday (5-7-10). Getting home before rush hour traffic started was wonderful. Ken was all ready on his way to Marshall,
Texas with Evie and Kane for the Caddo Kennel Club's first ever show. We had Evie entered in the American Bred Class and Kane was entered in Best of Breed. It was a great weekend for Kane aka CH Take No Prisoners of Edan as he went Best of Breed both days under judges Donald Gill and Col Joe Purkhiser. Evie did not fair as well. She went Reserve Winner's Bitch on Saturday and 2nd in her class on Sunday........ugh. So she is still sitting at 7 points with 1 major. Her next show will be in Lake Charles, LA in June. Keeping fingers crossed that she will pick up more points there. Below is a moving shot of Kane. He is a spectacular mover, very balanced and a fun dog to live with.


While Ken was off having fun at the dog show, I was cleaning the house for a visit from mom and dad. The house stays pretty clean but after all it is the parents!!!! I got to turn off the A/C since a cool wind was blowing and I opened all the windows. Magic and I sat on the porch and listened as the trees talked to us.......very magical. It was also fun watching the silly woodpeckers hang from the bird feeders and take the sunflower seeds out to eat. I think Ken and I have counted 5 different woodpeckers including the rare Red Headed Woodpecker. That one is a true beauty with it's solid red head, black body and white on it's wings. He has been here twice in the past couple days and I sure hope he comes back so mom and dad can see him. I need to get a better camera with a good telephoto lens, that is the only way to get pictures of the birds.

I do have a question, does anyone know what kind of flowering bush this is?
I was planning to take out all the bushes along the side of the house, but had not gotten to it yet when this thing started blooming. It is really beautiful and smells wonderful. Sort of reminds me of honeysuckle, the smell not the bush. :-) If I can find out what it is, I will replace the other bushes with whatever this one is. Any ideals???

We finally got one of the flower beds in front of the house finished. It has butterfly plants, small rosemary bushes, thyme, sweet basil, lavender along with some other goodies. The border came from our house in Houston. As soon as the plants grow a little bigger, I will be adding a colored mulch. Now we have to get started on the other one.

As I mentioned earlier I was going to take out the bushes (except that blooming one) that run along side of the house. I had my clippers and was pulling back one of the branches to cut it when this bird flew out and scared me to death. Turns out the bushes are getting a short stay of execution. The bird has a nest in them.

Don't know what kind of bird it is yet since I don't want to disturb her. I will try to get a picture of the babies when they hatch
Earlier last week, I had just gotten home when here came this horse and cart. The lady was practicing her driving skill and her husband was along for the ride. We waved at them and they laughed and waved back. Beautiful horse, I don't think I would mind learning to drive a horse and cart.

Anyway, Sunday was Mother's Day, since mom and dad are coming on Friday, I decided to save mom's gift till she gets here. I did call her, she was at my brother's house in Sealy. I guess I could have driven over there but they will be here in 3 days and making sure the house is clean was more important. :-) I am not sure how long they are staying, but it will be long enough to build the deck that I wanted off our dining room. That's right my dad, Ken and my brother Jimmy are building me a deck and my mom and dad are paying for it. I am overwhelmed by their gift. I want to put a outdoor dining room table on it, so we can eat outside. That is what I love so much about my brother's very large covered porch, is sitting out and eating. I have to work all next week so I will only be able to get photos when I get home in the evening. It will be fun to post the day to day progress.


Hope everyone has a great week. Only 34 more days until my 7 week summer break!!!!