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.