Happy Anniversary Brooke and Brad

Happy Anniversary Brooke and Brad!  We can't believe it is seven years today that you two have been married.  It seems like it was just yesterday.

You both are amazing parents and we couldn't be more proud of you.

Congratulations!!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

XOXOXO

Houston Garden Center

The Houston Garden Center is our go-to nursery.  They have a huge selection of whatever you are looking for to pretty up your space.

There is so much to choose from.  It takes me a minute or two to ground myself so I am not so overwhelmed.  The first thing I do is walk around and look at everything before making a decision.  Kind of like I do in a Christmas store.  :)  Gotta make sure I'm getting what I really like.

The hubs and I were in complete agreement on which flowers we should choose.  We both wanted bright colors.  Last year we chose white as they show up really well at night.

The funny thing is (and I haven't said anything to him) is he chose Begonias.  Begonias.  Do you have any idea how many times in the past I've chosen Begonias and he would say "I don't care for those"?  Do you?  Lots!!!  I smiled to myself and said "you can have all the Begonias you want."  Wink, wink!

Here's the ad for the Houston Garden Center.  They have really good prices with very healthy plants.

Do you like to work in your yard?  I absolutely love it.  I'm the person who sprays fertilizer on their plants and watches every.single.day to see if they have grown in any way.  I stand at the back door, before going out, surveying to see if there has been any change.  I even take photos before I apply the fertilizer and a week or two later.  I want to see the fruits of my labor.  :)  Then I want to tell you all about it and show you.  OMG!  I know...too much, right?  I just can't help it.  Thank God for my husband....he pretends he's listening.  :)

I realize it's a commitment and some people aren't interested in the time or the money.  For me it's therapeutic.  Digging in the dirt, listening to the squirrels and birds making their noises, your worries fall away.  Thanking God for the many plants, flowers, birds, bees, lady bugs, and maybe the lizards.

My best advice to you, should you decide to venture out and pretty up your yard, is invest in Neem Oil and Slug bait.  Seriously.  I'm not joking.  Sprinkle the bait among your flowers immediately after you plant them.  IMMEDIATELY.  If not, there will be a party at your place and your flowers will be eaten by the next day.  Not totally eaten, maybe half.  Many years ago the hubs and I planted Pansies, my favorite flowers.  The next morning our flowers were pitiful.  Half eaten and there were slugs everywhere.  I was so sad.  I declared war!  I was the crazy lady sprinkling salt on the slugs.  And yes, I was in my pjs and had a flashlight, too.  I've learned to always have slug bait on hand.

Now let's talk about Neem oil.  If you have hedges that are looking a little scrawny, chances are some little bug is eating it.  Spray your hedges in the evening with the Neem oil and in no time your hedges will be healthy and full.  We have many plants in the front and back yards so we usually have at least four bottles of Neem oil on hand at all times.  Keep in mind, you will have to respray cause whatever is wreaking havoc on your plants will come back.  I usually spray every two weeks.  It is so cool to see new growth come up where you thought it was dead.

Take care, be safe and plant some flowers!

XOXOXO

Debbie

Our Easter Weekend

Hello and welcome to the recap of our Easter weekend.  Without question, it was an Easter unlike any we've ever had before.  There was no gathering of the family, no dying of eggs, no decorating cookies, no "egg pocking" and no Easter egg hunts.  It was different.  There were tears shed (by me) when I realized this was the first Easter we weren't going to be together as a family.  Many tears.  But then I pulled on my "big girl panties" and dealt with it.  By golly!!!  Easter was coming and there was some decorating to do!!!

Grab a cold beer, a water or a frozen drink 'cause there are lots of pics ahead.  Some of you may want to bail out now.

So one week before Easter we got the containers down from the attic.  The hubs kept asking me "are you sure you want to decorate one week before Easter?"  I'm sure he thought he could talk me out of it but that wasn't happening.  :)

We went to the Houston Garden Center on Good Friday morning, masks in hand, to get flowers.  It wasn't very crowded and everyone kept their distance. 

We both agreed we wanted color.  Something to brighten our moods.

Welcome to our home.

We were both so happy I decorated.  It felt "normal" and it was so nice.

The bunny here was out way before Easter and will be out until I change up the decor on the table.

I originally hung the "welcome" bunny banner at the top of the entertainment center but it kept falling.  I found I could hook it on the decor, only problem was it draped over the top of the TV.  Just knew I'd catch some grief over it...but he never said a word.

I didn't put out all the decor just enough for a couple of areas in our main living space.

I ordered chocolate bunnies, larger than what you see here.  However, Walmart was out so they gave me the smaller ones...13 of them.  When I was unpacking the shopping bags I kept pulling out bunny after bunny.  I was thinking "man I really screwed up my order".  The hubs is piping in "your grocery order privileges are being revoked".  I have to admit I was a bit relieved when I saw they "substituted" the bunnies for the original dollar amount I ordered.  All was good.  

I added a few bunnies in my office.

I colored some Easter eggs for the kiddos in the neighborhood.

I'm pretty sure this towel is supposed to be in the kitchen but I like him in the bathroom.  LOVE his glasses.  He is so cute!

After we finished the front yard, we lit the fire pit and drank some ice cold beer.  We sat out there for hours listening to fun tunes like "Sweet Home Alabama".  One of us may have had a hang over on Saturday morning...but I won't mention any names.  Ha!!!  We had fun.

We were back to planting on Saturday morning.  I might have been moving a little slower.  :)

The pool pump went out early Thursday morning...like 4:20 a.m.  We had a hard power surge and took it out.  I think we did a good job cleaning it with the Polaris and net.  So happy to report it's been replaced....all is good.

On Easter Sunday we watched church on TV and headed outdoors.  The water was still chilly but I grabbed a float and spent all day in the pool.  We were supposed to have ham for our meal but there was no convincing me to go in so we postponed it 'til Monday night and had chicken fajita quesadillas instead.

I've been putting Miracle Grow on the Bird of Paradise plants.  Trying to get them as big and tall as they are in Jamaica.  :)

I am so excited!!!  looks like our lime tree is going to produce more limes than I could have dreamed.  How cool will it be to walk over, pull a lime off the tree, slice it and put it in your beer.   Can't get much fresher than that!  Oh and I can't forget the margaritas!

Brad and Brooke built the bar for us with some help from Ms. A.  We told them what we were looking for and provided all the materials.  It looks amazing.

This past Christmas Brooke and Brad gave the hubs the "Tiger Eye" to go on the front of the bar.  It looks so good.

On Friday afternoon, we were dirty and wrapping things up in the front yard.  A car stops in front of the house and a guy gets out.  I asked the hubs who is that?  He joking said "I bought you something for Easter and it's being delivered".  Of course, I didn't believe him.  It was a contractor the hubs does work with...he was making deliveries to all of his customers.  What a sweet thing to do.  And yes, we practiced social distancing.  :)

I hope you and your family had a safe and blessed Easter.  As different as it was, we are incredibly grateful and blessed our family is healthy and safe.  After all that's all that matters, right?

Jesus has risen!!!

Take care and be safe,

xoxoxo

Debbie