Oh! So that's where those holes in the yard are coming from!!!

We have had two precious dogs die in the past two years.  Blue and Hershey. The most recent was Hershey, a 17+ year old Rat Terrier, she died in December of 2009.

So imagine our surprise when walking around the yard and finding mysterious holes that have obviously been dug in the lawn and dirt. No dogs back there.  SO - What, when, how, where could this be coming from?

No problem. We have so many creatures roaming in and out of our yard all the time, it could be any one of them. Owls, herons, possums, birds of all kinds, squirrels, cats, turtles, and who knows (I don't think I want to know) what else!


Here's what our squirrels do.  Either sit under one of the bird feeders and eat the fallen seed like this:

- OR - sometimes they will get into the hanging feeders like this:

Imagine my surprise when I looked out my bedroom window yesterday morning and saw this! Digging by Miss Squirrel! It's becoming very clear where the holes are from now!

Success! She found what she was looking for - probably all over the rest of the yard too.

Can't you just see her taking a little bite out of the acorn! SO cute, really. Yes - really.

Oops! Exit, stage left! I think I moved too close to the window and she's off with her precious find. Climbing high into the trees and fleeing the danger. However, I'm quite certain that she will be back today or tomorrow or next week to dig and look for more tender treats.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!


With love, Laura

Today is Tuesday

This morning I sat outside and watched the birds fly through the trees in our back yard. We lost so much this last winter to the snow and cold and that is very unusual for this part of Texas. This spring our plants are thinner with less places for the birds to hide if they feel threatened. Steve and I (mostly him) have worked in the yard getting it somewhat back to how we love it. We still need to replace some of the bushes lost in the freeze so our little feathered friends will have more places to hide.

I sat in a rocker that one of my sisters gave me, and thought about her and how sweet to share something she knew I would love so much. I rocked and watched the birds. The sprinkler was going, off to the left, and the Blue Jays were really enjoying bathing in and flying through the water in the air.

There was a parent Blue Jay with a toddler. The first toddler Blue Jay I've seen. All of the babies just quiver and shake and flutter their feathers. They cry for food, for mama, and for daddy all the time. You can hear them this time of year all through the trees.  There was a male cardinal, Red as we call him, feeding his baby. I just love to watch this process every year.

The humidity was down this morning and so it was wonderful outside - rocking, thinking, watching. We have feeders up in the backyard so that the birds and squirrels can feed. I know some folks don't like squirrels, but we do. Their little fuzzy tails are so cute and the way they use their "hands" to eat and dig is fun to watch. We have one baby squirrel this year that we are watching closely. It has been severely wounded in some way. We think it might have fallen and damaged a limb or two as well as it's motor coordination. It mostly flops around to move anywhere. It's painful to watch. We are keeping extra food and water around the yard to give the poor little thing some help. One of the special things about this little creature is that its mama stays very close by. I think that Mama is still helping it, even as it's gotten a little older. Mothers are so special.

As I was rocking, I started thinking about my blog and how I go in spurts to write and then stop for a while. Life just seems to get caught up in itself and rolls all over the place and then suddenly days and weeks have sped by and I haven't written a thing. I probably never really breathe during those times, I hold my breath until I'm done with the project, or work assignment, or whatever it is, then I finally take a little time and breathe. So today, I'm breathing and writing.

For me, life is most perfect when it is slow - filled with nature - peaceful - filled with love.



With love, Laura

Home Sweet Home

I"m home now from my nursing duties. I miss my parents so much, but I'm also happy to be home with Steve. Here's the link to my other blog - I share it with my siblings when they want to post.

http://standingstrongwithfaith.blogspot.com/

With love, Laura

See what I've been doing lately!

I've enclosed the link to my parents blog so that you can see what I've been doing this past month. It's been very busy, but Daddy is making wonderful progress in recovering from his open heart surgery.

http://standingstrongwithfaith.blogspot.com/

With love, Laura

Have a Heart

I'm enclosing a link to my parent's blog. I've included the latest update on my Dad's surgery this coming Monday, February 1st.

http://standingstrongwithfaith.blogspot.com/

Please say a little prayer for my mother and father.

love, Laura

My personal heroes . . .

My parents. Carol and Stan

I have felt their unconditional love all of my life. It has sustained me through more hard times than I can list.

Daddy is having heart surgery on Monday.  The last time he had heart surgery was February 4, 1993!  Dr. George Noon put in an artificial valve - a St. Jude's valve at St. Luke's hospital in Houston, Texas. It's still working well from what all the doctors are saying.

Mama, Daddy, Kenneth (my brother), and I were at MD Anderson all day yesterday - January 27th. Dr. Oliverira went into Daddy's heart yesterday with the cath and found 80% blockage in one major artery -- but then they found a surprise -- he has a large aortic aneurism in that main artery feeding his heart. It's just above his mechanical (St. Jude's) heart valve. So they did not put in any stints and he's now been referred to a cardiac surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital - Dr. Caselli. He sees Dr. Caselli tomorrow morning/day sometime between the doctor's surgeries and then will probably have the surgery on Monday.  We have been told that Caselli is one of the best in the world.

The doctors are looking at several options and may not know exactly what they do until they get in. They can replace the aneurism with a dacron graft, and do a stint on the blocked artery; they can replace the aneurism with a dacron graft, and do a bypass on the blocked artery; they can do the aneurism graft, and/or stint/bypass, and replace the 17 year old heart valve. So you can see that there are lots of possibilities. Part of this depends on the surgeon and how he feels Daddy can handle the surgery, how long daddy will be open, and other possible contingencies. Obviously the most optimum would be for the shortest time in surgery -- makes for the least trauma and a safer and easier recovery. They all have said that Daddy is in remarkably good condition for his age and so that helps with the surgery and recovery.

As far as we can tell from the other doctors that Daddy has seen recently -- because we have not heard this from the oncologist specifically -- Daddy's PET/CT scans are clear and not showing any evidence of the cancer at this time. So that is a good thing for sure. Continuing to beat Lung Cancer is Always a GOOD thing!!

One of the best traits that my parents have, among their many others, is their unbelievable ability to look at life in the most positive light possible. Included in this is their always looking forward to new adventures and challenges, not back at life's mistakes. Sure there might be some -- but they always look forward to a bright and positive future. 

That's one of the reasons they are my heroes - their example encourages me to look forward and not back at regrets - look forward to hope for a brighter future and more adventures to come!

Laura

Living and Breathing

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is God's gift, that is why we call it the present."       ~Unknown~

~So live life to the Fullest~

Sometimes I have a tendency to get bogged down in worry and sadness about life and the way things go for people – when they don't go right or terrible things happen.

One of the things that I do to help me cope is to collect quotes from many different sources. I usually don’t share quotes, but this quote is one that I have used for the past several days to help me. Maybe you need it today too. Life is a present. Today is really the only thing that is in focus – thorns and all.  

We can have regrets about the past, however today is the day we live to the fullest and make it a difference. How do you make your days count?

Laura

After the Storm

This picture was taken on September 15, 2008.

We were in the back yard cutting up a big tree that had fallen during Hurricane Ike. I had my camera documenting the wonderful helpers - friends, family, grandchildren - and turned and saw these beautiful blooms and the bee. It was such a stark contrast from the huge fallen tree that it took my breath away! How could the wind take down a whole tree and not touch the delicate petals of this flower? How did the bee survive and know where to look for my flower? It is still a miracle to me. Nature has its own way of keeping life in check.

I'm thinking about all of this because there's a good chance that we are going to lose quite a bit of landscaping over the next few days. Here in Sugar Land, close to the Gulf Coast, we're used to hurricanes (we don't like them, but we're accustomed to them), but we don't get too many really, really cold winters.

We usually have roses blooming in December - it's a time when some of the most beautiful weather comes our way. We don't tell folks about that because there are already too many people down here. Just remember that the summers are brutal! Winters incredible - but summers H O T and humid!

This picture was taken on December 20, 2003 -- you will immediately notice how terrible our winters usually are.

I'm thinking that it's going to be sad to lose some of our plants, I keep plants alive for years and years -- it's sort of a thing I love to do -- but at the same time -- this way I will get to begin nurturing some new plants in the spring and keep them for years and years.

Sometimes you just have to let go and breathe. It's nature's way.

Laura

A friend of mine . . .

Lives in Australia (Hi Toni!!). I'm wondering if she feels like this right now. After all, they are upside down!!!

It's summer down there right now - H O T. We sure could use a little of that H E A T up here in Texas and probably a few other spots in the USA!  You know I lived in Australia and your arms get very tired from hanging onto the Earth to keep from falling off (well I was pretty young so it might have seemed like that)!

I felt a little like this caterpillar at the end of 2009.  Trying to find which way was up. The end of each year does that to me and I'm really tired of it. If I make one resolution only this year --  it's going to be to change my feelings about the end of the year. You know how everything gets compressed and time just seems to whizz by without regard to what we have to do or accomplish. Well, no more, I'm putting it on my calendar with a bazillion alerts to remind me each month that the end of the year is NOT the time to feel upside down. It does not carry the weight of the whole year on it - it's an opportunity to look forward -- forward to a new year and to hope and opportunities unknown!

Laura

2010

Happy New Year! I mean this with all my heart.

Last year seems to have been a hard and heartbreaking year for many, many people that I know, including my family. While I fully understand the principle that hard times strengthen us, I hope that 2009 gave everyone all the strength that they will ever need!

LauraBeth