Hot Air Balloon Festival Again

I liked this one for Memorial Day !

A couple of the pilots

Blowing it up!

I know!!  I can't believe that I got to go to the Hot Air Balloon Festival this year.  I missed it last year since I was in Florida to surprise Shell for her birthday.  I think it's my favorite festival around here.  I love watching them blow the balloons up and all the pretty colors they are.  There is a craft show in one area and our " iron works" neighbors are always there.  We hadn't seen them in awhile so we got caught up on things besides buying a new sign for Brambly Pines.  After visiting, Chuck and I walked over to the field where they were blowing up the balloons.  Chuck carried my fold up chair so I could rest when I needed too.  After walking across the field and taking pictures of all of the balloons, I needed a small rest before heading back to the explorer.  Chuck put my chair right next to one of the balloons.  It was like being in a movie or a book...looking up into the sky and seeing all the colors and magical balloons.  I kept thinking how lucky I was to sit in such a pretty setting.  I hated to get up and leave such a pretty place, but it was time to walk across the field and parking lot again.  We had a laugh on the walk back.  One of the balloons had taken off and ended up landing in the parking lot.  It was a wonder it didn't come down on a car or someone.  Then, when we got to the craft show area again, there was the Pepsi balloon with in just a few feet from Dave and Melanie's iron works booth.  We may not have been able to stay until after dark to see the balloon glow ( where they all light up the balloons at one time) but I felt really lucky that I did so well to walk so far to be among the balloons after having my surgery just 1 1 /2 weeks ago.  We stopped in town for dinner and as soon as we got home, I was laying on the couch and didn't even stay awake an hour.   Chuck woke me up and I went to bed and slept the whole night.  All that walking was good for me.  This morning, I even feel better than I have.  Will take it easy today though and will enjoy all my pretty balloon pictures.

Wild Flowers

Remember when Chuck planted the two bags of wild flower seeds down by the fire pit area and I picked pretty flowers for my table all summer long, last year?  Well, guess what!!  Beautiful yellow cosmos and some kind of pretty blue flowers all came up again this year.  The first trip down to the garden last week, I turned the corner to the fire pit area and said " WOW!"  Such a pretty, bright yellow spot.  I sure hope they last a long time because it's one of my favorite places to walk to now.

My Walks Around the Yard

Each day I have been taking my daily walks around the yard.  Each day, I've been able to walk farther.  I think I'm on my way to recovery, for sure.  The problem is going to be that I feel really good and will forget that I can't bend over, squat, pull on anything  or pick up anything that is heavy.  The thing that I miss the most that I can't do, is water my plants with the hose...too much tugging.  Mean while, I'm enjoying all my pretty flowers as I take my daily walks.  I feel so lucky that I am able to grow so many different things that I couldn't grow in Florida.  It makes working in the yard fun!

Another Surprise!

As I was out on my daily walk around the yard, Chuck was watering and I had just finished tending to the climbing roses ...dead heading them. I heard someone coming up the drive way.  Of course I was still in my night gown and panicked.  There was no way I could run to the front yard so just stopped to see who it was coming to the house.  It was a delivery van for one of the local florists in Moulton.  The lady got out and asked if I was Barbara Peterson and then she told Chuck that we had a beautiful place here.  At first she was afraid to drive back here...ha.  If you have never been to Brambly Pines before, you never know what to expect, I guess.  The lady handed Chuck the most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever!!!  I grabbed the card and read that they were from everyone in my book club.  They were my first friends in Alabama, three years ago. The sweetest ladies that you would ever want for your friends.  I feel so lucky to been able to move here and live the life I have now...even with the unexpected hard knocks that life gives you sometimes.

Among the Living

All my get well cards!

Flowers from sweet Andrea

Star of Bethlehem 

BFF quilt!!!

One of the " friends sayings"  

I'm BAAAAACK!!  I'm among the living again.  It was touch and go there for awhile.  The surgery and the stay in the hospital was rough, along with the first couple of days at home but then things started turning around.  The Dr told me that walking could be the best thing so I walked around the house, holding onto the walls and then I tried my strength with walking around the yard, holding onto Chuck of course.  As of yesterday, I was able to walk down to the garden and back without having to hold on.  Chuck says it's only about 1/8 of a mile down and back but it sure does feel like it's 8 miles all of a sudden.  I had a Drs. appointment six days after the surgery and she told me that I didn't look like I just had major surgery less than a week ago.  Well, that was because I had washed my hair and had make up on again...ha.  She said that my incisions ( all four of them) looked really good and everything seems to be in place where needed.  She didn't need to see me for another five weeks.
   It was so heart warming to find out how many wonderful friends that I have.  ...even before I had the surgery, Andrea brought me a pot of beautiful flowers.  One's I had never seen before.  They're called "Star of Bethlehem".  I'm hoping that I can plant them in my flower bed and I will be able to enjoy them again next Spring.  The evening that I got home from the hospital, here comes Andrea with enough food for dinner for the next two nights.  We didn't have to worry about dinner the next night either, because here came the BNOE with dinner and a little vase of pretty flowers.  I've had so many pretty "get well" cards, emails and phone calls.  I've never had so many friends in my life.  It really does help the hurt to go away when you have so many people that care about you.  When we moved, I left my BFF ( no it doesn't stand for best friend forever) in Florida.  We keep in touch so we are still very much involved with each other's lives.  When Elaine/Fred came up a couple weeks before my surgery, they brought me a present from Debbie and the instructions were not to open it until the day I came home from the hospital.  It was inside a beautiful lavender/blue fabric pillowcase.  I think I was home about an hour and settled in on the couch, when I had Chuck get my present.  When I opened it, I felt like I could  cry!  It was the most beautiful little quilt I've ever seen! It was all in my pretty lavender and blue colors with flowers in each block.  Half of the flowers had " friend sayings" in the middle of them.  All along the border was a stitched vine and little "yo yo" flowers and the date and BFF with Debbie's name.  I have been covering up with it every day as I lay on the couch to rest.  Every day, I think it's one of my most favorite things that I own.  I will cherish it forever!!!!  I want to thank everyone who has showed me that they care about me by their cards, emails and phone calls.  It has taught me a lesson on just how much it means for you to take the time to send someone a card or make a phone call.  I certainly will be sending more cards and checking up on people who need the love and support when they are hurting.

A Small Break

Just thought I'd let ya know that there might be a small break in my posting to the blog for a little while.  I'm having major surgery this coming week and I'm not sure how long I'll be down and out.  I should be up and moving around in a week or so but there won't be anything to post about for awhile.  I'm not suppose to use my core muscles for about three months.  I KNOW!!  It's going to be a very long three months.  Summer usually flies by and I will be doing things around here before I know it.  That's what I keep telling myself...ha.  So, don't forget about the blog.  Check in every once in awhile.  Just maybe there will be something to post about.  Seeeeee ya in the funny papers.

Mr Red Breasted Grosbeak

Remember how excited I was to have a pair of new birds come to Brambly Pines the other day?  Well, guess what!!!  Yesterday I looked out the kitchen window at the big feeder and there were THREE males and at least two females out there.  The word is out over in North Georgia that Brambly Pines is the place to come vacation. There is non stop food for 24/7.  We feel so lucky to have the new birds come see us.  

The Porch Before and After

Before......

After !

Before....the after will come soon.  ( the table legs are to be painted blue)

I think the little blue hutch has been on the porch for about a year now and I kept saying I was going to paint it white because it was the wrong color of blue.  Well, I FINALLY did it!!!  It took three days and four coats of paint but it sure looks better.

   One day I was sitting at the porch round table that sits four people, five at the most and realized that in all of the places we have to eat in and out of our house, all the tables were round and were only suppose to sit four people.  We needed a BIG table for when we had company.  The only place we had room for a big table was the back porch.  Once I convinced Chuck that we needed this BIG table and that it would fit just fine on the back porch, we set out looking for one.  First place we looked was the local furniture store in down town Moulton.  There is was...only it came with four chairs and a bench.  After telling the lady that we only needed the table, she went to her computer and figured out that she had an extra table from the sets she had in the store room, she sold us just the table.  Perfect!! Well, almost perfect.  I  have to paint the legs of it blue to match the chairs that we already had.(Only in a small town furniture store, can you talk the lady into just selling you the table and not the set)  The next thing I will be on the look out for is a pretty full size bed head board and end board that Chuck can make a long bench out of for the one side of the table.  Meanwhile, the little bench that I already had, is being used.  We can finally seat eight people at one table. We're ready for company...well, almost.  We're working on a guest room next.

Around the House

The white azaleas

My Herb garden with my one eared rabbit.

The new bird to Brambly Pines

Double click on the pic to make it bigger.  He's at the bottom of the feeder.

A gold finch is sitting on the arm of the feeder. 

The roses are starting to bloom 

One of my hosta beds 

The Peace Lily that lived in the house all winter

The azaleas are all blooming around Brambly Pines.  I wish their blooms would last all summer.  The Hostas are all up and showing their pretty leaves.  Soon they will be blooming also.  My herbs are ready to be picked and use to make my dishes more flavorful.  The climbing roses are climbing, the knock outs are blooming and the regular roses all have buds.
   We had a new pair of birds come to the feeder yesterday.  The male is just beautiful with it's black/white feathers on its back and wings, a white stomach, a jet black head, a bright yellow beak and a bright red on the front of it's neck that goes down to a V into it's breast.  Chuck looked it up in our bird books and found out that they are Red Breasted Grosbeaks.  It also said that they really don't come to Alabama.  They stay over in the north mountains of North Georgia.  I guess that is why we have never seen them before.  I'm thinking that maybe they decided to come to Brambly Pines for a vacation.  After all, it's like a B n B for the birds too.  There are lots of bird houses and feeders on the land.  What more could a bird ask for?  Well, there is the frightening fat cat that some times sits under the feeders.  It just puts a little excitement into the birds vacations.  Keeps them on their toes or should I say wings.

Porch Pillows

After cleaning all the furniture and the floor on the front porch from all the green pollen, I decided that I needed some pillows for out there.  I went shopping in my studio closet and came up with the left over blue/white fabric that I had covered the seats of the four chairs to the table and the yellow/white fabric that Andrea had given me awhile back.  I had bought two small feather pillows last October when Shell and I went shopping at IKEA in Tampa which ended up just what I needed for these pillows.  I put the blue/white fabric on one side and the yellow/white on the other.  This way I can flip them depending on what colors I want on the front porch.  Sure wish I had bought more of the feather pillows at IKEA.  I have enough fabric left over to make a couple for the back porch.  I'm thinking that a summer road trip to Atlanta's IKEA is in the future.

Ring the Bell

I finally got the bell post painted that I said I was going to do for over a year now.  I added a sign that made me laugh when I saw it on Pinterest.  I'm hoping for a little action from it.  At least if we come home and there are weeds in the bucket, we'll know someone was here while we were gone...ha. Well, maybe if someone comes that has a sense of humor.    

Hurricane Creek Park Hike

Shell, trying her hands/feet at a rock climbing wall.

Face rock 

Standing behind the water fall.

Curvy tree..curvy walking stick 

It was time for Fred/Elaine to come up for their Spring time visit to Brambly Pines.  It had seemed like a long time since they had been here.  Maybe it's because it took so long for Spring to come this year.  Shell came down from Nashville to see her Aunt and Uncle so she got to join in for all the fun.  Saturday after everyone got here, we just did some shopping and visiting for the day.  On Sunday, we headed out (with the big chance of rain) to Hurricane Creek Park in Cullman.  We are so lucky to have such beautiful places so close by.  It was a really pretty hike with a rushing creek through it all.  Everything was just " so green" !!!   Just as we came to a picnic shelter, the sky opened up and poured down rain.  We sure timed that right.  Not only did we need a rest but it kept us dry until it let up.  It turned out to be a really nice morning hike and we were all ready to stop at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, on the way home.