Birthday Gifts

I've read a lot of books over the years.  I love to read.  Somehow, though, Anne of Green Gables passed me by - I don't know how.  But after watching Anne With An E on Netflix, this complete set ended up on my list of birthday gifts - yay!  So, I'll just read up to the point where the series stopped so I don't have media confusion.

And, of course, I've been watching The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu, so that book is now on my nightstand.  That may seem weird to be reading these at the same time, but really not, since they are both about women and their ongoing issues.

So, of course you need Nina to sing about it.  Still waiting on this to arrive - can't wait!

Skittles

Skittles.  Little pieces of delight!  As I sit here writing this, my mouth waters at the memory of the little sweet and sour colorful wonders.   There are so many pictures like these two of me caught with bags of skittles and coffee and a sheepish look on my face.  Not a proud moment for someone who really tries to eat healthy food.

The glowing-eyed monster next to me is my little black girl dog, otherwise known as THE BEST LITTLE GIRL DOG IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.  I am proud to say that I have not eaten a skittle in at least a year.  It's a miracle!

Dixie Cash

Ever since I was a little girl I loved to read. I don't even really remember learning how to read. I remember some of the first books that I read, like "Run, Jane, Run", but I don't really remember learning about phonetics and how to sound words out. It just feels like I always knew how to read.

The closest public library when I was growing up was located on the grounds of my elementary school. It was about eight blocks from our house, so it was a pretty good walk, especially during a hot Louisiana summer. I would walk to the library regularly, either with my friend Deby or alone, and would check out as many books as I thought I could carry on the trip home. I must have read every fiction book in that tiny, little library and a good portion of the non-fiction books, too.

I loved reading so much that when I didn't have anything new to read I would pull out a volume from our set of encyclopedias and start reading about everything from aardvarks to zebras. I was hooked and addicted and it became a lifelong guilty pleasure.

So, I've decided to include this passion of mine in my blog. I'm going to title each post with the author's name, because that's my way of tracking good books. I even keep a list of authors in my purse so that I can almost always find something good to read.

Now, to Dixie Cash. Dixie Cash is actually a pseudonym for two sisters, Pam Cumbie and Jeffery McClanahan, who grew up in rural West Texas and currently live in or near the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. They collaborate to write some of the funniest Southern fiction that I've read. If you're from the South, and have lived in Texas, this is Southern humor that you can relate to.


The titles of their other books, from first to most current, are:

Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out The Trash

My Heart May Be Broken, But My Hair Still Looks Great

I Gave You My Heart, But You Sold It Online

Don't Make Me Choose Between You And My Shoes

Curing The Blues With A New Pair Of Shoes

Get my drift? Check it out.

Arkansas Bead Retreat

If you ever want to meet a great group of women, then attend the Arkansas Bead Retreat!  Every single one of these women (and men!) is remarkable!

And they are all so patient and will show you all kinds of ways to make jewelry!

The amazing Ida, the lady on the right, does an awesome bead retreat in Shreveport twice a year.  I love having Stifft Station Gifts, but I do miss going to these bead retreats every year!

The Deck

This is so ugly!  It's basically an old, metal industrial loading ramp.  The litle black dog hates to walk on it because her little toes get caught in the grate.  And can you imagine trying to walk on it in high heels?!

These stairs have a tread that would fit a munchkin - they are tiny and useless.  Also, no one really wants to gaze at the beautiful air conditioning unit as they come into the back entrance of the store, now do they?!

Amazing, huh?!  Stefan Vickery, of Vickery Construction, and his guys did this.  They did most of the work on the store and they are great!

I have a pretty little railing, and room for the A/C to breathe.  I can even stand over it and pretend I'm Marilyn Monroe!  That would make a great photo shoot!

Here's another view.

And another view.

And nice new, wide stairs for normal sized feet!

Then I painted it chocolate brown.  That's right, I painted it.  By hand.  With a Brush.  It took a long time.  But doesn't it look good?!

The little black dog is so thankful we have a nice deck for her to walk on now.  Here she is sitting in the sun, watching all the nice people go into The Oyster Bar for lunch and smelling the yummy smells.  I'm very happy with my deck, folks!

Sprouts

Here are my sprouts!  And my brand new mucking boots!  We live in the middle of the city, but next to a huge stretch of woods, so boots are a necessity due to copperheads and such.  But see all the little babies?!  It's so fun to grow them yourself and if you get F1 Hybrid seeds lots of them will reseed each year.  And the herbs, like basil and cilantro, already have their yummy smells when they are only a couple of inches tall.  I find it fascinating - yes, I am a plant nerd as well as many other varieties of nerd........

Strong Stuff

This is my Mama.  She is made of strong stuff.  She has survived all of her many siblings except for my Aunt Sandra - who is really just a few years older than me - another story.  This picture is from our visit to Utah to say goodbye to my sweet and beautiful Aunt Evelyn.  Y'all go hug them right now - they won't be here forever.

Billy/Buster

We found this sweet little boy cowering under a bush as we were coming home from a walk in our neighborhood.  He was cold, wet, and so scared.  It took a long time for me to coax him out from the bushes, but I finally got him to come with us and back to our house.  He scampered under my garden bench and would not come out - not even for treats!

Eventually, he got hungry enough and poked his head out enough to eat.  We named him Billy.

I kept on sweet-talking him and he finally made it to the door!  We kept him for several weeks, but our little black dog was just having none of that.  She is just not tolerant of other dogs in her house.

This is Billy's "adoption" picture, which meant, of course, that he was adopted immediately!  Isn't he adorable?!  He is now happily ensconsed with a family in Connecticut and they named him Buster. 

 Who's a good boy - Billy/Buster's a good boy!

Deck Time

Spring = Deck Time! Sweetie worked really hard on cleaning and refinishing the deck and it looks so much better. My super tile guys have installed new tile on our outdoor barbecue. The patio has been repaired - we had some damage from alternating years of drought and flood.

I've been working my hiney off in the garden for two weeks, pulling weeds. All this means ... Deck Time!