Melania Movie and a Weekend of Hockey!

 I'm enjoying the food reels on Facebook and this was one of them.

This every bit as good as it looks!

Since we had a full weekend of hockey planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 

Ilene and I had our weekly movie night on Thursday.

We started with a pineapple wine spritzer with a stick of pineapple and a sprig of mint!

My favorite librarian would share one of her favorite recipes with me during the book fairs.

Alas, I missed the last book fair and I really missed a new recipe.

Delicious!

I made grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the soup.

We totally enjoyed this movie and will be watching it again!

The hockey season is over but the evaluations of players started on Friday morning.

Harrison played two games - one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

It was a warm Friday in Texas but I always look forward to the cold rink!

The scouts were evaluating each individual player and they all wore blind jerseys without their names so the out of town scouts would not have any bias in their decisions.

Saturday we went to another two games - this time all three Bell girls were playing - one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Since these were not regular games of three 15-minute periods but only two periods each 27 minutes long.

Sunday there was two more games but we missed the first one - which was at 8:30 this morning.

We made the second one at 10:45, though.

I wore a heavier pair of pants - the bleachers are really hard - and my new Chico's jacket, which is really warm!

I went back to bed for a couple of hours before going back to my regular schedule.

Cold weather arrived this evening and we will be having a morning fire tomorrow so I cleaned the fireplace and brought in a load of firewood.

Between doing chores I have been watching some shows....

I'm really loving The Madison.....

And this one....

Tomorrow I plan on sleeping late and then start working on the dining room....

I was going to post a photo of it but maybe I will do before and after pics.

Monday Doctor Visit, Our Living Room and Tuesday Treasures...

 Louis Dean has elevated pressure behind his eyes and has been using special eye drops for the last few months.

Monday he had a follow up appointment and he may need laser surgery if his condition doesn't improve over the next few weeks.

I'm so happy to have the living room all cleaned and decorated for the next nine months.

This will be my only Santa wall this Christmas.

Our living room is small but seems larger due to the wall of mirrors.

We have seating for seven to eight people in here.

We love our Alexa but still play music from our CDs old school way.

I have loved transitioning from winter to spring and summer and will not do any redecorations until after July when I will add my fall celebration to the sunflowers already in place.

It took me awhile to get the living room gallery wall done.

I have a lot of art plans for this year and it includes updating and embellishing canvases I've already done. I've grown in my art and am excited about turning my old works into new ones!

This is what I call my 'throne.'

It's where I sit for my quiet time on the days it's too wet to sit outside.

All my paintings have a story behind them and reminds me of where I was in life at the time I painted them.

Candles are an important part pf my daily life.

If I am going to be home all day - I light candles in every 'clean' room.

On the days I have appointments or errands I wait until I get home.

For the first time we have put together a sitting area on our front porch.

It works well in  the mornings if the sky is cloudy.

Otherwise it is best after the sun rises and leaves shade on the porch.

I'm still tweaking all the things out here......

I love to take my first cup of coffee out and walk around the front yard seeing all the new flowers and greenery.

The daffodils don't last long but they make my heart sing when I first see them.

The crepe myrtle is showing new tiny green leaves...

We have lots of rose bushes.

All different kinds.

Louis Dean was busy on Tuesday morning in his music room so I took advantage of that and went thrifting with Brenda.

I didn't buy a lot but it was fun to shop together!

I do love signage and had perfect places for all of these.

Sometimes I relocate things and other times, I replace things.

This fall wreath was 75% off....

as was this heavy glass dish at 75% off as well.

They will be new to me in the fall as I will forget about them.

I try not to buy clothings as I have so much already.

Except how can one resist a unique Chico's jacket??

Dinner on Tuesday night was a frozen salsbury steak with gravy, garlic green beans, homemade mashed potatoes and buttered brown and serve rolls.

I've been working in the den all day and have made good progress!

All my Santas have been sorted and I have stored away the ones I want to keep and another stack with all the ones I want to give away.

I'm thinking of painting two Santas this year.....

I love this pink one from my friend BJ!

In other news.....

I'm so proud of all my Bell grands hockey accomplishments.

It's amazing to see that Baby A - aka Gatekeeper - is now an elite hockey player!

Trystan is #13

Who knew all THREE girls plus their brother would ALL love hockey!

Logan is amazing.....

and has grown up so well.

At birth, she was the smallest at 2 lb 6 oz.

And here is Kailey!!

She was the first of the babies to go home from the NICU.

She has a super heart....

At the age of four, she had open heart surgery to repair a half a dollar sized hole in her heart that had been there since birth. Amber has a mighty spirit and knew something wasn't right and spent months seeing medical help until she found a pediatric cardiologist that finally listened to her and this saved Kailey's life. Never underestimate that stirring in your spirit.....and praise God Amber did not dismiss this check in her spirit.

All four Bells will be playing this weekend for special consideration for placing in next year's hockey season.

I plan on being at all the games coming up this weekend as they will be at Valley Ranch since that's less than 15 minutes from home.

No pics from Harrison but they will be coming.....

All in all, life has been good here at our home.

Cleaning and decorating for me and Louis Dean working on his ponds and organizing his 'things.'

He woke up yesterday and could not find one pair of clean overalls.

He'd packed them up in tubs and taken them outside to the storage building.

He's always looking for something - 

as in his coffee pots and parts....

and his pond pump....and his wallet and electric shaver.

A new coffee pot will arrive tomorrow and the pond pumo next week.

The rest he will have to keep looking....

Doing Home Therapy and Loving it!

 I may be the very last person to take down thier very last Christmas tree from 2025!

As I write this journal entry on Sunday night, I still have four fully decorated trees in two different rooms. The dining room has two trees and the dining table is heaped high with Christmas decorations and debris from other rooms. Then there's the sewing room with another two trees plus ALL the Christmas debris!

However, I am not fretting since we are not really entertaining or hosting dinners and such so I am not feeling pressure to get it all done.

I've actually been doing a lot of thinking lately - what with all the life changes we all face as we age - and I think Christmas 2025 was my last big hurrah.

I'm going to be scaling it back over the next few years and when and if I reach 80 - that will be my last year of hosting Christmas Eve. 

I think it's good to plan and think ahead - it kind of comforting in a way.

As I am taking my Santa walls down, I've decided to only do one this Christmmas and that will be in the living room. Next year I'll do the den wall....and in the meantime....I'll be asking my children if there are any favorite Santas they would like to have and then I will sell some of the others.

I'v enjoyed painting each and every one and want others to continue to enjoy them.

Our cats seem really happy to be home.

They love the debris and I had to halt remaking this wreath as first  Tabitha claimed it....

and then Samantha claimed it!

I have finished the foyer and decided on a botanical theme.

It just kind of happened.

I have both live and faux plants.

I'm loving the transition.....of winter to spring and summer.

I do things differently every year.

But this angel wall has remained pretty much the same for the last 25 years....

Louis Dean and I spend several hours outside each day when the weather permits.

I decided to move this table over against the house (where the morning shade is) and it serves as a little cafe style place to have breakfast, coffee, and watch birds and have my quiet time.

I usually prepare healthy meals and I also need to remind myself to make sure I feed Louis Dean.

He's seldom hungry so I have to think ahead and make sure he eats enough.

In taking care of others, we often forget to take care of ourselves.

Turns out I had totally missed getting a mammogram last year - or a flu shot.

I called the imaging center and had an appointment the very next day.

Results were normal and Louis Dean was so relieved as he lost his beloved Ellen to breast cancer.

I find that limiting our errands to two a day works best for us.

My mammogram and a stop at Krogers was on the calendar for Thursday.

I always check their meat section for reduced for quick sale buys and came home with pork chops and four pounds of hamburger.

Errands one day and stay at home the next.

We need these home days now more than ever,

I'm glad Louis Dean loves salads nearly as much as I do.

Early bedtime for me and a movie for Louis Dean - MacArthur!

I have so many books and once I read one - I give it to someone I think will like it or to Goodwill.

It's fun to go look at all the ones I have stacked up in the guest room closet and on the staircase to the bunk beds and the library shelves in the sewing room and the shelves in the foyer which hold mostly the Readers Digest Condensed Books. Hundreds of books. More than I can read in my life time. But I'm picking them one by one......

I love my Saturday night dinner and movie with Ilene!

Louis Dean and I had a glass of wine as we waited for her to arrive.

I made a special cocktail using blueberry wine, sparkling water and a splash of buttery chardonney for me. Ilene is a very light drinker so I make sure her drink is low in alcohol.

I made my version of the strawberry/spinach/pecans/eggs/veggies salad from La Madeleine ...

with poppyseed dressing.

Delicious!

Our entree was Shrimp Pasta Fetticini!

Not Louis Dean's favorite but I love it and sent some home with Ilene and I have more to use for meals this week. Summer is still in Texas and she may visit again and enjoy a good meal.

I chose the movie for this weekend and we watched it.

Alas, I enjoyed it better back in 2003.

It wasn't nearly as entertaining for us in 2026.

And I thought Louis Dean would be interested in it - but he wasn't.

Next weekend will be better.....

You can't go wrong with James Bond!

I think I love him since he reminds me of my Benjamin...