Wednesday, March 11, 2026

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....















12 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

Amber is such a great super Mom. I have this fall leaf plate! The jacket is gorgeous! How do you keep your pretty front porch things dry when it rains? Is the steak frozen? It looks good, what brand is it?

Chatty Crone said...

Your rooms look amazing - you went to a lot of work there.
I love the pink jacket!
I can't believe the kids are that big now.
I hope Louis Dean's eyes heal.
Love your flowers too.

Ann said...

The Bell grands are an impressive bunch. Loved seeing all their photos.
Looks like you found some good things while out thrifting. That jacket looks fun.
I had high pressure in one eye a few years ago. I had to do 3 different drops. Hope LD's gets better and he doesn't need the surgery.

MadSnapper n Beau said...

LOVE the pink Santas. The photos of your girls are amazing, so are they all for playing hockey. a true hockey family. Sorry to hear about the pressure in LD's eye, prayers for the drop to work. I can't get Bob to go, he has not been checked in 2 years. I keep telling him he doesn't want to be blind, since all he has is TV.

Estelle's said...

You make magic happen in your home Linda....your artwork is just amazin...be proud of your accomplishments

Beth said...

Beautiful girls, and so talented! Regarding your artwork, I adore the picture of the man and lady walking and the lady is wearing a long red coat!

Pamela M. Steiner said...

I enjoyed this post so much. And all those paintings you painted yourself? You are such an amazing artist! I love them all, but especially the lady with the sunhat looking out somewhere, and the one with the white chair and hat (next to the other one). You should have prints made of these and sell them! All so wonderful. Your Bell grands are amazing! (well, the whole family is). I didn't know you when they were born, so I didn't know the whole story, but they all sound like miracles to me! Oh, praying for LD's eyes/pressure. I hope the drops will help. I love your outside porch seating area. It's already getting too hot here to stay outside for long, except maybe early morning, but I rarely can get out there due to other "routine duties" inside. Sometimes I think I need to change our routine up a bit! LOL. Thank you for this wonderful post. I hope you have a lovely rest of your week.

photowannabe said...

Aww Linda ... you have done a spectacular job doing the transition from Winter to spring and summer. Lots of work but I can see it has made you happy. Life does change and I like how you are embracing it.
Love the picture of you 2. Prayers continuing for both of you and satisfactory conclusions for Louis Dean's eye situation. Hopefully some of the "lost" things will eventually show up again.
(((hugs)))
Sue

Susie said...

Linda, Thank God all the babies are healthy and strong. Hug that LD for me. Bless his hard working ways, he just loves to work. Seems you are busy all the time. Take care. Blessings to all, xoxo,love you, Susie

Donna said...

Love the jacket! Very pretty.
Prayers for you both, daily!
hugs
Donna

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda, it’s Sharon. I love your house. It’s so warm and cozy and inviting. I remember when Leann said you took her home and fed her when she was scared and alone when she first moved to Texas I’ll never forget your kindness for that. I love your stories. I love hearing about LD. I’m sorry he’s going through all of that with his eyes right now. You all take care of yourselves. We love you.

NanaDiana said...

OMGOSH! I can't believe those girls/kids are so grown up! It seems like just yesterday they were babies. Those two Santas are fantastic! I really love the one where he is holding the bird. You have a wonderful collection of pieces you have done over the years-you are truly a good artist and I envy your talent.
Prayers always for you and LD. I hope he doesn't have to have laser surgery but if he does, it is an easy surgery....painless to have it done...at least in my case.
Hugs and love from Wisconsin- Diana