Apple blossom time and the puckerbrush!

 My very favorite time of year here in our neck of the woods next to fall is spring:)  We have approx. 22 apple trees on our property and I wait all year for that one glorious week when the trees are in full bloom, the smell is intoxicating in it's own way!

 After a long, cold winter it is eye candy at it's finest!

 Some more of the trees out back:) If only I could bottle up the smell and enjoy it all year long! Other parts of the property are looking pretty ragged right now....

The property line down this side of our acreage is filled with multi-flora wild roses, they smell wonderful as well when in bloom but the rest of the time they are just a problem and highly invasive, I call this area the puckerbrush. We had one section that had taken over the last few years so on saturday me and the hubby decided to tackle it and cut them back several feet. I had on a pair of his heavy welding gloves up to my elbows and still got many thorns all over myself, it is a NASTY job!

 We did mange to get it under control though, now just have to burn all the brush piles, UGH! I also wanted to do a new border around my raspberry bed so we got some landscaping timbers, now I want to add some wooden posts to all 4 corners so I can drape some bird netting over it when the berries start to ripen. So busy times here but very enjoyable to go to bed at night after a hard days work in the yard and even better when you can fall asleep on lined dried sheets:)

Hope you are all enjoying spring as much as I am, thanks for visiting with me today!

The weight loss journey

Well hello again! First no posts for 3 months then 2 in a row, lol! Thought I would share a bit of what else I have been up to, losing some weight! In the past year I have lost 27 lbs.  Did I "diet", no way, sadly I basically worried it off due to alot of stress in my life. I do notice now though that I don't eat the junk food nearly as much and I do not drink any soda diet or otherwise.  The pic above was me on my son's wedding day, Dec. 26th, 2010 and it was the last photo I have of me that heavy. Next are 2 pics of me just a few weeks ago....

I feel so much better and have been having fun shopping for new clothes, and am down to size 10 jeans from a 16 last year:) Did losing the weight help my fibromyalgia and back pain? In all honestly, NO, even though my Dr. had assured me it would it did not but I feel better in other ways and that's ok with me, the journey will continue:) We are having mid-70 temps and plenty of sunshine here in PA today so i am headed outside to enjoy it, Happy May Day everyone!!!!

HELLO!!! and happy spring!

 Amazing how the time gets away from us these days, if any of you remember me by now I thought I'd pop in and share a bit! After a VERY long, cold and depressing winter here in PA spring has finally sprung and OH MY is it wonderful to see and feel that sunshine again:) Since it was 70 yesterday I did some work in the garden beds, even already snuck a few petunias in my wash tub there, just couldn't resist;)

My flowering plum tree out front is in full bloom, of course today it is windy and the ground is covered in pink petals but so much better than being covered in "the white stuff" for sure! Another week or so and the apple trees will be blooming, my favorite!

Found these little pretties over by the woodline,so delicate and sweet I just love them

All around the old orchard the violets are popping up, dearly love these as well and some folks actually make violet jelly with these, have any of you ever tried it? I never have so wondering what it tastes like!

 My precious Kiah is 11 1/2 yrs. old now and I am treasuring every single day with her. She is recovering from a surgery she had 3 weeks ago, the healing process is a slow one but she is coming along! She had an anal tumor removed that was inside, it had basically taken the place of her one anal gland. We didn't have it tested as we would not be considering Chemo at her age anyway so we aren't sure if it was cancer but her Dr. suspects it. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a complete recovery as she still has an infection up in there, it is pseudomonous which is known to be stubborn in treating. Do you all remember this little man......

yup, that is our grandson! 19 months old already can you believe it?! He will be coming *home* to spend some time here with his mama too while my son answers the call of duty. He has been through alot these past few months, lots of testing being done due to a speech delay, the ped. sent him for autism testing which was a lengthy process but they just found out on thursday all the Dr.'s (and there were 10 of them!)  agreed  he is not autistic, so some wonderful news there!!!! He is getting speech therapy to help with the delay and will see an ear, nose and throat Dr. soon to rule out any problems in that area. But Grammy & Grampie are anxious to see him again, we have a swing already hanging out back for him:) Everything is is going fairly well, hubby's work has picked up again after many lay-offs last year. Well that is all that's new for now, let me know what you all have been up too, will be checking in on your blogs soon!!!

Catching up a bit

 Happy January! I was thinking I might not be blogging into the New Year, as it has become quite the challenge to come up with interesting topics of late, but it's still nice to stop in every now and then, I have met some wonderful friends through blogging and don't want to lose them so here I am:) Well the kids and Tyler are back home in Hawaii after spending the month of Dec. with us, and we are all back into our usual routines.

When my son left for Basic training 2 1/2 yrs. ago I found it comforting to leave his room as it was, deer and car posters left on the walls, etc. but now that he has his own home and family I was ready to change things a bit so hubby and I took down all the wall decor and re-painted, looks so much better! This room will eventually become my craft room , that is my goal anyway;)

 Lots of cold and snow here in Pa which is always depressing, I just don't deal well with either. Hubby is still off work recovering from the surgery he had and plowed a path for Kiah to get to the shed where she "checks for squirrels;) She much appreciated it, at 11 yrs. old she does not  like hopping through a foot + of snow!

 Our grandson, on a day hubby and I were babysitting while the kids went out to eat for their Anniversary, hard to believe they've been married for 2 yrs. already!

 Chris and I with Tyler at my mom's on Christmas day, he was not cooperating anymore for photos, lol!

 Kiah enjoyed "her boy", amazing how he can be gone for a whole year at a time and he walks through that door and she remembers him, the love of a dog is hard to match:)

Tyler opened most of his own gifts this year...

 Tyler, mommy and daddy..

LOVE this one, his overalls say "daddy's little hunter" and of course DADDY picked them out;)

Kiah was very tolerant, even sharing her bed at times:) What a good dog she is, I had wondered how she would do as she is not used to being around little ones at all but she was amazing, I just love her so much♥

Merry Christmas!

 Just wanted to stop in and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We are enjoying having the kids and baby Tyler here, these pics are not in any particular order...his favorite napping place is on Kiah's pet bed, lol!

 Kiah is OK with it, in fact they are sharing nicely♥

Tyler loves rides in the laundry basket with daddy pushing..."go faster daddy"!

 Love his smile:)

 me and "my baby boy" who will be turning 21 on Sunday, my how the years have flown by!!!

Grandpa's surgery went well, he only had to spend 4 days in the hospital, will be off work for at least another month but all is going well.

The kids the night they got here, exhausted from the long flights but so glad to be "home". We don't know what next year might bring, my husbands' job may be in jepardy, but for now we are just enjoying all that we have been blessed with. Merry Christmas to all, enjoy your time with your loved ones and furry ones, and best wishes as you move into the new year!

A close call

 Hi folks, long time no blog, just have had no desire for it at all, I am too addicted to FB, UGH, the things I could get done without the internet *sigh* I wanted to stop by and share some great news, my precious grandson Tyler is coming for Christmas (his mommy & daddy too;) They will be arriving on Sunday and be here for the whole month of december!!!!  The close call was, my son had put in for leave 3 1/2 weeks ago and booked the flights without waiting for an answer...do NOT ask me why, I haven't a clue, but that's my son:) Anyway we were all on pins and needles, HUGE time stressing over it, and we finally heard yesterday it was approved! 4 days before the plane leaves I might add!!!

So we are getting ready for Tyler, who knew toddlers need SO many things?? LOL, Kiah is checking out the diapers I bought:/ we got a cheap carseat so they wouldn't have to bring theirs along since they are holding him on the plane

We've gotten a few snows so far, pretty to look at out the window but not fun to drive in!

 Christmas decor is up, very simple this year! As the yrs. go by I find myself decorating less and less, it's just too much work!

 A sign I made and some lighted berry garland dresses up the kitchen window just fine....

 Some peppermints and snowballs in an enamelware bowl for the stove:)

My prim tree is over by "bunny-land" this year so Miss truffles can enjoy it, and she does! My husband is going to be having his colon surgery next week while the kids are here so please send some good thoughts or prayers his way, he will be in the hospital 4-6 days, none of us are looking forward to it but be glad when it is over and hopefully put an end to the episodes he has had so many of! Hope you are all doing well, enjoy the season!

He went fishing....

 As many of you know my son is in the Army and stationed in Hawaii. He has been an avid fisherman since he was fairly young thanks to his grandfather:) When I heard from my DIL that he went fishing with some buddies yesterday I had no idea they would be catching a SHARK! and here this mama thought she only had the military to worry about, HA!

 This catch looks a little more friendly, lol, not sure what it is, it's covered in sand. Still no word on if leave is approved but I am getting a bit nervous, the flights that are already booked are in 3 weeks so hopefully by the time they find out there will be time to pack!

I am SO hoping it all comes together so I can have them all here for all of December:) I love the pic of baby Tyler above admiring daddy from the door, he is growing so fast and I feel like I am missing it all, so thankful for my wonderful DIL and facebook for keeping me connected! Let us remember that today is Veteran's Day, a day to remember all who gave the ultimate sacrifice and those who continue to put their lives on the line in the name of freedom!