A Very Nice Thursday!

Today has been a wonderful day of peace and rest and a little therapy.

We started our morning with coffee and will be ending our day with a glass of wine as soon as I finish this journal entry.

It has been a beautiful day here in Texas! We have had the doors open and filled all the bird feeders and enjoyed being able to go back and forth to the front yard and the gazebo.

Sleeping with the door open in November has got to be one of the biggest blessings of living in Texas! NEARLY makes me forget the triple digit heat that goes on and on until late in fall!

I light candles in all my 'clean' rooms. Actually, I only have ONE clean room and our bedroom is it!!

I put up a few of my recent Goodwill finds.

This red felt wreath looks great here and has inspired me to add some other pops of RED,

just as soon as I get all the Christmas decorations down. Which will not happen YET.

"Not yet." (Remember that line from the movie 'The Gladiator?' LOVE that movie!)

More recent Goodwill treasures!

I love our bedroom......

Louis Dean rebuilt my bathroom for me several years ago.

It is truly 'One of a Kind!'

I found the tiny tree at Goodwill on Tuesday.

SO happy I ran in there after getting my hair cut!!

This is the only the third Christmas wreath I have hung so far.

Once again - another Goodwill find!

ALL of 'Fall' is down and packed up and stored back up in the attic.

The house looks a bit bare!

While Louis Dean was napping late this afternoon, our sweet Indian neighbors came over with dinner! AH!! The aroma of Indian cooking!!! The dish was goat, potatoes and rice - and lots of spices and seasonings! It.was.seriously.delicious!! I shall wash the dish they sent it over in and return it full of pecans tomorrow!

While we were watching a little TV tonight on FIOS 'On Demand' - I LOVE that feature of our cable company! - Louis Dean asked me to fix him a pan of my homemade cornbread.

Never mind he had just had a LARGE portion of the dinner dish!

He was in need of some comfort food. He loves cornbread and milk.

He DID help me get all those tubs and bags full of FALL up into the attic!

So as I write this he is finishing up a large glass of just that - cornbread and milk!!!

I'll close this with an update on my mother!

Thanks to Deanie for keeping me updated and sending the photos!

Mother slept soundly all night and into the late morning!

This was not easy to do as Deanie is in her new home and there is quite a bit going on with workers laying carpet and putting down tile. Several workers speaking LOUDLY in Spanish and still.....

Mother slept on!! Did I mention it is BRIGHT in there??? Still.....she slept!

My sweet sister took this pic when Mother was awake.

I feel certain they had already had a cup of coffee or they would NOT be smiling!!

This is the view from Deanie's guest room where Mother is being entertained by this 'cute' squirrel.

CUTE is if you LIKE squirrels!! They have done so much damage here - and I DO live with 'Mr. McGregor! - that I am not a huge fan!

This afternoon Deanie took Mother to her nail appointment.

Mother has had acrylic nails for years and YEARS!!!

Now Mother has strong hands - much stronger than MINE!!!

While in the hospital Deanie noticed she could not push the Nurse Call Button because she pushed with the tip of her nail - and felt helpless!

You need to push with your FINGER to make contact!!

In the last year I had noticed that Mother always asks me to open her coffee creamer - the half and half that comes with that pull off top. Now I know for a fact that my hands are considerably weaker than hers! It makes sense now. She couldn't open the creamers because of her NAILS!!!

You know what's coming next!

She had them taken OFF!!!

Looks painful, doesn't it???

Mother with her new NATURAL nails!!!

This is something she hasn't had in forever!!!

My mother is nearly 90 years old and her hands look younger than mine.

She will enjoy being able to actually USE her hands better now!

Guess what I said when I messaged Deanie back after she sent this pic?

"Thank GOD!!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!"

That's what Mother always says when anything positive happens.

Thank GOD!!!

Rightly so!

It has been wonderful to have this beautiful weather this evening. 

I strung up a long strand of colored LED colored dome lights in front of the den windows to see how they look.

Hope to outline them over the next few days, although, rain is in the forecast and in Texas we NEVER complain when we get rain! That is, unless it floods into my house as it did not so long ago! Still, the weather is fine enough to sit out in the gazebo for a few minutes before bed tonight.

As is my custom, I close out this entry with the Throw Back Thursday pic I posted on Facebook.

This was taken in the fall of 1994. 

Amber is in red at the end of the table to my right and Benjamin is the cutie sitting on the white step ladder in the forefront. I still have that ladder and use it every day!

My nephew, Jon, is to Amber's right and TODAY is his birthday!!

Today is also Rebecca's birthday - she is in red at THIS end of the table. 

Her brother, Jon, is in the blue shirt next to Ben.

Kendra is next to me on my left.

She was raised by her godly grandmother and my dear friend, Melba. 

Melba and I shared life and joy and some heartaches together for many years.

She and JW live in Oklahoma now - and I still miss her!

Don't you love how an old photo can bring back to mind so many joys and memories??

Okay!!! I am off to pour that promised glass of wine and thus end this lovely day!!!

My only regret was not having the time or the energy to harvest some of the thousands of pecans that are in my front yard!!! If any of you live near me - please feel free to come and gather as many as you would like!!! We have MORE than enough!!!

Oh, and one more thing!!! Louis Dean did get his prescription for cough medicine filled at the hospital pharmacy! Should have done that Monday!!!