Call Me Goofy

I'm still nursing my knees this morning. I'm on shot 3 of a series of 5 - so I'm seeing the end soon! It reminds me of that Geico commercial that I love with the camel....

I'm basically on my "hump day" of my shots. lol I had to laugh that my sons didn't know what that meant when they saw that commercial. We used to say that all the time in school and at work when I was young. Funny how things change. It just cracks me up every time I see this commercial...call me goofy.

I gave Holly a hair cut the other day. She was having a little matting in her hair, no matter how much I brushed it, and I knew it was time to get out the clippers. I've never clipped her before, but she did very well and I think she looks cute. I'm sure the more I do it, the better I'll get, but I'm really happy for my first effort and she feels much better. It's easier to brush her out, too, which is always good. I tried to take a picture of her, but she wasn't cooperating so I'll have to share a pic another day.

We've had so much rain here! My poor hubby got his car stuck in the mud on his way to the doctor. Thankfully, he was able to use the other car and make it there okay. I do love the coolness of the rain, but I really don't like the mud. I can't go out to my studio, either, when it's this muddy. My oldest son has promised to lay down a walkway with bricks for me soon so I can go out there whenever I want. I'm so thankful. I really want to get started on my Christmas painting soon! 

Speaking of Christmas, I've been working on my son's Christmas stocking. There is a lot of embroidery on the felt items, so it's been slow going, but it's going to be adorable. I'm sure since I'm starting this early that I'll get it done in time. 

More ice and more elevation of my knees today and, hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to walk more like a normal person. I pray your Saturday is filled with many blessings!

God bless you - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - Link Up!

I love Tuesday's and sharing my blessings with you. I also love coming by your blogs and reading your posts. It's like sharing our hearts across the miles. :)

You all know I've been working on my home. It feels like it's taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r! I know it's not but it does feel like it. I did get a huge, huge project done last night with the help of my hubby and younger son. That's my first blessing, so let's get started!

136. The one project that felt completely over-whelming to me was moving the books back to the shelves.

I made up my mind yesterday that I would get them all done by night so I could have that project out of the way. I knew it was going to make me feel like I had accomplished something. So, I started moving them, taking breaks to give my back and knees some rest. By 8:00 pm last night, I still had a lot of books to move. My hubby pitched in and put them on the two-wheeler and moved them over, but he soon pooped out, too. My younger son then helped me and he organized them by author as he went along. I put my books on my shelf by author so I know what I have. That was so helpful! Here's some pictures of the final results...

137. While I've been working on things, this sweet, little thing has been keeping me company. Here she is with her favorite toy (it's almost as big as she is!)...

138. My son has been working on putting a deck on the front of our house. I'm so excited about this. It's something I've been wanting since we moved here, many years ago. We have such a tremendous view of the mountains from the front of the house and I'm just imagining spending hours out there, with my coffee or tea, enjoying God's creation! This is such a huge blessing and I'm so thankful to my son for doing this!

139. My son also made me a garden box a couple of weeks back. It's high up off the ground so I don't have to get down on my horrible knees! He and my hubby went to get a couple of tomato plants and some seeds so we could get it going. Here's the finished result after getting everything planted...

I have a tomato plant at each end and a chive plant at each end with lettuce, carrots and radishes planted between and in the corners. I can't wait to see everything coming up and making my first salad from my very own garden! Did you see the one plant already has 3 tomatoes on it? What a huge blessing to have my own garden!

140. When you have so many books, sometimes you don't realize what you have. That's the huge blessing about moving them and going through them. I have been wanting a specific book for quite a while and had been thinking I would order it when I had the funds. No need! I found it amongst my books and did a happy dance (well, a happy shuffle, lol). Here it is!

I have Springs in the Desert from my BFF that I dearly love and I wanted the other book by Mrs. Cowman. The really neat thing about this book? It's publication date!

I love old books!! They make my heart sing! There's so much little detail that they would put into the book. Look at these gorgeous pages from today's date...

So beautiful! What a blessing to find a book I've been wanting to read and, not only that, but it's an old book, too! 

How has God bless you this week? Please link up and share something important or special in your life!

Blessings - Julie

Changes That Are Good!

Dear Friends, I'm so exhausted! As you know, we are in the process of changing things around in our home and while it's exciting, it's also so much work! With my pain, I can only work for short spurts at a time and so it's going to take awhile to get things exactly as I would like. I'm so thankful for the help of my family without whom I wouldn't get hardly anything done at all! It's so wonderful to see all the changes so far. It's making our home look larger and it's definitely given all of us a lift, despite the fact that we're weaving in and around furniture, boxes and books! 

I had been wanting to put a different bedside table next to my bed for awhile. I've had this sweet little maple table in another room and when we started moving stuff around I decided to snag it for myself. I love the big drawer where I can keep my pens, glasses, meds, and bookmarks. I loved the big shelf underneath, too, but I didn't want it to become a clutter area, so I pondered the situation and it and decided it would be perfect as this!

I call it the dog apartment! I put a really cute doggie bed/cushion in there and then a small pillow and a favorite toy. My little Yorkie, Holly, loves to sleep under pillows and I had this small little doll pillow that I knew would be perfect for her to snuggle under. I'm going to make another pillow case that will match the bed. I also put a favorite toy of hers in there. All I had to do was show it to her and she was in there lying down. 

Here's another shot of the whole table...

It was so funny last night...when I got up during the night (do you do that, too?). Our poodle was sleeping in my bedroom and when I looked down into the little doggie apt, she was in there snoozing away! I didn't think she even noticed it, but obviously she did. They took turns sleeping in there last night, so it's a big hit! I just love it...it gives them their own little cubby to go to if they feel like it and I won't be tempted to clutter the shelf with books or magazines. I love it when my brain works and I think of these things! LOL 

Blessings - Julie

Something to make you smile

This is Cookie, our poodle. She is just the most loving, adorable thing. We were discussing bunnies here...we live on 10 acres and we have LOTS of rabbits that she loves to look at out the window and would chase if given half a chance. She knows what I'm talking about when I say "bunnies". lol 

I just love this girl - I love poodles - and she just makes my heart melt with her loving ways and her sweet eyes. She's a definite blessing to me! 

Praying that you have blessings in your life, too!

God bless you - Julie

Glimpses of Spring & Walking!

The last couple of days have been simply amazing for me. I have felt very energetic and less tired than I have felt in months! When you go through life in pain and tired all the time, you don't realize how very hard it is until you have days without the tiredness!

So, today I did so many things that I've been talking about doing for so long. One of those things was to go outside for a walk. Yes!! A walk! Me - with the bad knees and back! I didn't go far, mind you, but I did it! I walked around enjoying the sunshine and looking at all the beautiful things that are opening their "eyes" after a long, winter's nap.

First thing I had to check out was this

Look at all those beautiful yellow irises! So many blooms! Tomorrow hubby will fill the birdbath with water for all the gorgeous birds we saw today. Next I walked up the road and saw all these...

That's just a small snapshot of all the iris down our road. Hubby spent countless hours planting and planting iris down the road and now we have these beauties to greet us, and others, as we drive to our home. This wasn't the only exciting thing on the road. Look who came along with hubby and I on our little walk...

In case you can't tell, here's a closer look...

My youngest son! He had a back shot yesterday and was miserable, but today, he felt better - good enough to come along on our little walk. Praise God! Here's some more pics of things we saw...

That last picture is a bit fuzzy but I still had to share it because it's my lilac bush! We have about 5 of them around the property and I love, love, love them! They should be out in full bloom by tomorrow or the next day at which time I will be going out to gather a nice bouquet to enjoy inside. The smell of lilacs is so lovely!  Here is a favorite picture - the hubs and my son in front of the Blue Spruce - one of my favorite trees.

We also had another family member along for the walk. Look at that happy "smile"!

Sammy loves to go for a walk with his family and here he is with "his boy". Two of MY favorite boys...

I also saw these guys. I'm not sure if you can see them, but I had to share this pic...

Can you see the quail? You can see two of them to the left of the picture and then there is one next two the wire ring on the right side of the picture. I tried to get closer, but they were too fast. I love quail! We have so many here now.

I rejoice in the "small things". The small things can sometimes be the big things when you haven't been able to do them for awhile. I really love going out in God's creation and enjoying all the sights, smells and feeling His cool breezes that remind me He is there. Thank you, Lord.

God bless you - Julie

Sunday Thoughts - My Furry Friends

I've always been an animal lover. If it had been up to me, I would have had a house full of animals as a child. What we did have were English Bulldogs.  Here I am with a litter of puppies that our bulldog had.

Aren't they just too adorable? I also had guinea pigs. My Dad went to the pet store and bought me one and one day I went out to their cage and I suddenly had 3! The guinea pig was pregnant when he bought it and I was thrilled with the new babies. I had them for years and even walked them on a leash. lol

When I got married, the thing I asked my husband for over and over was a poodle. I had always wanted a poodle and it was my hearts desire and obsession to get one. So, for our first Christmas, my husband bought me a poodle.

There's my little friend, Poodie, with my nephew when he was young. I loved that little doggie and he went absolutely everywhere I went. We lived in the middle of no where when we were first married and my husband worked very long hours, so this precious fur-baby was very important to me.

After this little guy, we had another sweet poodle that the neighbor dog attacked and killed. I was devastated and so then my husband got me the best poodle in the world - Tammy Lou. She was just 4 weeks old when I first saw her and I got to take her home at 7 weeks. She was the most precious thing in the world and I loved her so. Here are some pictures of Tammy Lou -

She was absolutely my pride and joy. She went everywhere with me and she was the smartest little dog you've ever seen! I'm sure she understood English and knew exactly what I was saying. When she passed away in 2010, I thought I would die with her. I still cry when I think about her. There will never be another one like her and I miss her horribly and always will. (Pausing here to wipe away my tears...)

These are my furry friends now. This is Muffy Marie. She is my oldest son's Pug and she is just adorable. She thinks my son hangs the moon and it's been very hard on her since he's been working so much. She lives for the time of day when he comes home.

Here she is wondering how she can take one of those cream puffs out of the container. lol

Here is a picture of Muffy and Tammy Lou. They were the best of friends and Muffy still misses her.

Next is Sammy. He's a Cocker Spaniel we rescued from the Humane Society. He was a total mess when we brought him home but he has become such an amazing dog! He follows me every where and he is a real sweetie! He will protect us to the death and I'm so glad that we found him.

Look at that adorable face!

Next we have Cookie. She's our poodle and she is such a sweetheart! She belongs to my youngest son and she's about 5 years old. Here she is when we first got her. She was about 6 months old when we got her.

Look at that face! lol Here's a more recent picure of her.

Finally, we have Holly. She came to me through my friend. They couldn't keep her because my friend had a baby and the two didn't mix. I am so glad that they offered her to me as she is my sweet, little friend. When Tammy Lou passed away, Holly was my comfort and companion and she still is.

Here she is as I study my Bible. She always lays her head on the Bible when I have it open.

I love all my precious puppies! They bring me such joy and comfort. After I started having pain, they became even more of a comfort to me and I'm so thankful that I have them. They really are my fur-babies.

God bless you - Julie

Sammy Joe

Our cocker spaniel, Sammy Joe, was attacked tonight. We're not sure if it was a neighborhood dog or a coyote, but when I went out to let him in, I could hear him making these horrible barking/crying noises and I knew something was wrong. It was dark out, so I can't be sure what happend. He had been out a short 7-10 minutes - it was his last time out before bed - but it was long enough he was attacked. I'm so glad that I went out and heard it. I called my younger son out and he and I start yelling and must have scared the culprit away. However, Sammy came dragging in with several bite wounds and full of stickers and mud from getting rolled around.

Thank goodness for my EMT son who knew exactly what to do and did all the first aid. He had the supplies on hand to clean and bandage him. He could have even stitched him, if need be, but thankfully, it wasn't necessary. There were a couple of deep wounds, but they stopped bleeding and my son didn't think it was worth the pain it would cause Sammy. Whatever bit him, also bit comletely through his ear in 3 places.

I have to go to the big city - 2 hours away - tomorrow for a doctor's appointment and I'm really concerned about leaving him. My hubby said he would stay and watch him and I'm thinking that I may have him do that. If he gets sick or takes a turn for the worse, then hubby could take him to the Vet. Oh, this just makes me heartsick...I'm just so thankful that whatever it was didn't kill him. We do have a neighborhood pitbull that has killed two dogs around here. Of course, we also have coyotes, so I just can't be sure.

He's special to all of us...if you think of it, would you please say a prayer for Sammy Joe?

Blessings - Julie

A New Chair, Bithdays & More

I had a turn for the worse for a couple of weeks and was just trying to focus on getting past the pain.  I had so many people praying for me and I certainly felt them sustain me.  During this difficult time, my husband was more determined than ever that I get a new chair.  As soon as I was able, we were off to the La-Z-Boy store.  I sat in every La-Z-Boy in the store many, many times.  I reclined, I sat, I took my sweet time.  Here's what I picked out:

I love it!! The fabric is very, very soft and it's so very cushioney!! (Is that a word?) I also love the dark, chocolate brown color. Anyway, as usual, my husband was right. It has made things much better.  I am sleeping in this chair and it's helped.  I still have pain, but at least I am having times where I have some relief.  Any kind of relief is a blessing! That's my prayer shawl draped over the back.  It's been in well use!

We also had birthday's here the past couple of weeks.  My boy's birthdays are just a few days apart and we celebrated quietly at home.  I made BBQ chicken wings, pizza and carrot cake.  I did this over a process of a few days and was able to pull it off.  They both wanted the same thing so I did this twice.  Here's a picture of the finished cake.

This cake was so rich, so sweet and so good!! You can find the recipe here.  The recipe actually calls for the cake to be a sheet cake, but I did it in my round pans which are older than the hills and smaller than today's cake pans so it ended up being a triple layer cake.  I will never buy a store bought carrot cake again after having this. It was better than anything we ever had from the bakery.  My oldest son really enjoyed this cake

and so did my youngest son.

They both had wonderful birthdays and I'm so very, very thankful for my sons.

My doggies have been needing to be groomed so hubby took them for me one day and here's my precious, little Holly after her grooming.  Isn't she just adorable?  She's so excited, she's playing with her little, purple squeeky dog toy.  I love her hair short and as much as I have loved doing the whole ribbon and bow thing in her hair, I'm thinking I'm going to have her get this hair cut from here on out.

Sweet Holly has been such a comfort to me during these last few months of dealing with pain. She is always there with me, snuggling with me and knowing when I need a kiss on the nose.  She is definitely a gift from God. 

My sons had their friend over the past couple of days and they had a great time playing video games and munching on cake.  As they have all gotten older, they aren't able to get together with their friends like they used to.  There's college, work, and other responsibilities in their lives now and so these times of just having some down time are far and few between.  I'm so glad they were able to get together for awhile. 

I'm SO tired.  Between the birthdays, the pain, and the steroid shots, I just feel like I'm crashing half the time.  I'm going to try and get some decent sleep tonight.  I say that every night, but usually end up having insomnia and total exhaustion the next day. I think it's the pain pills, quite frankly.  I'll be so thankful when I'm able to cut them down even more.

Thank you again for all your prayers, emails, and comments.  They have been such a blessing to me and I never take them for granted. 

God bless you - Julie

Totally Blessed

I thought I would give you all a smile and post a picture of my precious - Sammy Joe. Isn't he a doll? We rescued him from the pound 4 years ago and he has been one of the best dogs we've ever had. He's a Parti Color Cocker Spaniel. He was such a mess when we brought him home. He had been horribly neglected (and we think abused), but with lots of love and kisses, he has blossomed into a wonderful friend. He loves to sit in the chairs with an afghan. When my hubby was recovering from his heart surgery, Sammy slept in bed with me. He wasn't too happy when hubby came back to bed, but he has a lovely bed we bought him at Costco a couple of years ago and I washed it (with Downey, of course) and he loves the smell of the Downey and went back to his bed without a peep. I just love that little guy.

My visit with my sister was so great. It always goes by way too fast, though. She had to go to work today, so they had to get back. They live 4 hours away so they left about 6 pm last night. We got to spend about 4 hours with them, though, and it was so wonderful. My sister is really my best friend and confident and I'm so thankful that she is not only my blood sister, but my sister in Christ as well. That, dear friends, makes all the difference!

Okay, are you ready for one of my "thrift store, yard sale find" stories? Oh good, 'cause here it goes! Hubby and I went out to breakfast together - just the two of us alone. *sigh* Just heavenly!! Anyway, afterwards, I said, "I wonder if there are any yard sales today?" He says (as I knew he would), "Well, we could go and see and go to a couple." So, we head out and follow a box to a yard sale. OH my - guess what I got? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you. I got a Precious Moments figurine for 50 CENTS!!! Yes, you read that right - 50 CENTS!!! I looked it up on the internet and it retails for $80.65!!! Can you believe that? Here's a picture of the figurine I got:

Isn't that cute? He has a paper he's holding that says, "Check yes or no". So, so cute! And did I mention it was only 50 CENTS???!!!

Speaking of Precious Moments, my sister brought me my Christmas gift because she didn't want to ship it and risk having it break. It's a Precious Moments Water globe with the nativity in it. I absolutely love it!! I think it's so special that she got me something for my collection. She's such a sweetheart! It's really, really pretty.

I'm so enjoying my Beth Moore study, "Experiencing God". It is a wonderful study. Of course, I haven't done a bad Beth Moore study yet. They make me grow and bring me closer to my Lord. I am so blessed to be in the group that I'm in at church, too. It's a great group of ladies and they so bless me every time I go. I am so totally blessed in so many way. I'm so thankful to God!

God bless you ~ Julie