I’m Coming Back

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Debbie

I knew it would be a matter of time for me to return to the blog, I just didn’t expect it to take this long, well over a year. But I’m back and eager to post about our life and times.

For starters, I would like to share my goals on the health front. For the last couple of years, I’ve tried to find ways to inch good health into my lifestyle. As of late, I have a goal to reach a 25 pound weight loss. And thought it would be fun to put it out there, as I can use all the accountability that I can get. Perhaps there is someone out there looking for accountability too. I’m here for you, holler. I’ll be sharing more on this in the coming weeks.

There are other points that I would like to share as well. I have some gardening, home improvement projects as well as things on my wish list that I would like to make room for.

I plan to take the blog slow. And not fret that there is so much between my last post and now. I just need to get the ball rolling where I am.

With that being said, the day started like every other day, with coffee and cream.

And my go to breakfast lately, is a little bowl of Fiber One with a glass of Vanilla Soymilk and maybe a mid morning banana.

I had a few morning errands and finished up with my shopping by early afternoon. By the time I got home, I was starving! So I put aside my original lunch plan and picked something a bit easier to assemble. Bananas, crunchy peanut butter and bread, made all things right with the world.

I spent some quality time in the garden this afternoon. I can’t seem to get enough of the pretty flowers in bloom. It would seem a waste of time to not stop and smell the roses.

One of my favorite flowers, the plumeria, bloomed for the first time. We were gifted a small cutting from our neighbor, a couple of years ago. What a joy to witness our plant blossom and reach full maturity, from the tiny clipping.

A picture of the plumeria flowers up close. This shot was taken yesterday.

Our evening was a bit chill. We had a little nap, crazy how the weekend caught up with us. And I tried to make up for my lack of veggies thru the day by making up for it at dinner with a lot of vegetables and a little turkey for my protein. The fruit and veggies did not stack up to the best today, but I’m striving to work them in.

While this is such an exciting season of cinnamon, spice and all things nice. It’s a season that I do not wish to avoid health. So here I am, going all in and putting it out there. And by the end of the season, may we look back with no regrets. Who is with me?

Blessings – Debbie

Backyard Work in Progress

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Debbie

We have a lot going on around the home sweet home. While we’re still working on indoor projects, the outdoor projects are coming right along as well.

Like the area in the lower left section of the image.

So far, four trees and stumps were ground/taken out, a few small trees removed and the gravel/rock removed. Next, the area will be leveled, then pavers will extend and a fire pit will be coming soon to the area. We’re excited!

We spent a great deal of time in the great outdoors over the weekend. The hubs tinkered a bit more with the outdoor speaker system and I spent a good deal of time with the fish.

I was pretty excited when I captured the guy below with palm tree reflections. So much so, that I wanted to get a bit artsy in photoshop. Like so.

I love the fish below, she’s one of our new shubunkins. I can’t tell you how hard it is to get a good image of a fish that is always on the move.

And I pretty much spent the day (today/Monday) catching up on things from over the weekend.

On the health front – Just in case you are wondering, I’m pleased with the way I’m making healthy choices. So far so good!

On that note, I think it’s time to start thinking about having a nice healthy dinner.

Until next time,

Blessings – Debbie

Happy New Year

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Debbie

Wishing a Happy New Year to all of you!

So the hubs and I have spent the last couple of weeks enjoying the holidays, spending time with friends and working around the house.

And working around the house has been right up there on the top of our list.

In fact, I painted the office on New Years Eve. And went to sleep for the night at 8:30 pm. I could not keep my eyes open for the dropping of the ball in Times Square (east coast time).

And on New Years day, paint was applied to the baseboards in the office.

*See Image Below for the hubs project* – The hubs tells me this is going to be our home’s new gigabit network, 5G wifi, telephone, cable, and audio distribution center. I have no idea what this means, but he says I’m going to like it when its finished.

News Flash, he has already shown me the volume control for the outdoors, kitchen and dining areas. He’s right, I’m going to like the goodies.

I don’t know who is having more fun, but I can tell you we are having a grand time.

I’m working on taking down the Christmas tree today. And I’m so thankful the hubs ordered special ornament containers for me this year. I can’t tell you what a delight it is not having to individually box the ornaments.

Our Lenox ornament this year. Our collection has grown over the last 17 Christmases together.

“It’s a day of rest – to rest up from my week of vacation and to rest up for another week of vacation” – Said The Hubs, last weekend. And here this weekend is almost here. And that means it’s back to work for him Monday. But let’s not talk about that now. We’re still on vacation!

One of my special places to spend time, is still around the pond. Lately, I started crushing up the “big fish” food for the babies. Just after a week of feeding, the babies swim up to me as if I’m their best friend. True, they spent their first 6 months eating algae. While they still feed on the algae, they obviously like to forage for new fodder.

What a joy it is to watch the little babies change color. Of all the babies (approx 70 from the spawning last spring), this is the only one who has completely turned orange. And we have one I call “Rudolph” he/she has a red nose and the rest completely dark, just like the other baby you see in this image. We even have a few with a blueish tint. We understand it takes six months for the babies to develop color.

Six months are up, so we expect to see some big changes in the pond this winter/spring.

I hope to be back soon as I hate to get so far behind on the blog.

Wishing Joy, Blessings and Happiness to you this New Year.

Blessings – Debbie

December Blurbs

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Debbie

Early December, I enjoyed a “Monday Funday” with my girlfriend down in the heart of San Diego = Seaport Village

Lunch at the Fish Market

And the hubs and I enjoyed a lovely dinner date with this couple last weekend. Love spending time with friends…

The hubs and I enjoyed a beautiful Christmas program – Weeks ago.

We enjoyed the view and music from our front row balcony seats. After the program, we had a lovely time at our neighbors party.

“At Christmas I no more desire a rose than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled mirth; But like of each thing that in season grows.” – William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour Lost

“Shakespeare may not desire a rose in December, but he didn’t live in San Diego” – From the diary of the previous owner of our home.

A December rose is a wonderful treat. And these roses are left for our enjoyment from the previous owners.

A beautiful night sky – I was admiring the sky one evening while out cleaning my paint brushes and roller. Go me! I finally finished painting the last hallway a few weeks ago.

December 19th = the hubs last day of work thru 1/6/2014!

The babies are happy. Although we think we lost one to that egret, as we only count 9 of the original big guys. But they are happy and loving life – Image shot a week or so ago.

Last Friday, the hubs took me Christmas shopping in LA. I thought we were going to do some shopping in the Fashion District. But that was just a little “white lie” as the hubs had other plans. Plans to surprise me with diamond earrings. And surprise me, he did.

I told him I really didn’t need anything for Christmas. However, I did tell him I could use socks (mine have holes the size of quarters), a sweater and new hiking shoes.

But this is what the hubs thought I needed and what I got to unwrap Christmas morning.

Arriving to Christmas Dinner at The Hotel Del.

Carving the turkey

Sand in my toes after dinner, was just what I needed.

Sandcastles

A Sandcastle for Christmas.

The view – looking out to Point Loma.

Ice Skating – It was fun to watch…

Remembering Christmas Past – The silver ornament revealed a hidden surprise on Christmas morning, 1998. I said yes! And we’ve lived happily ever after.

This Christmas – A day we – enjoyed sandcastles, time together on the beach, Christmas Dinner at Hotel Del, the afternoon and evening with friends, more presents, a bonfire, roasting marshmallows and visiting into the night.

Feeling Blessed and enjoying these days with the hubs.

Blessings – Debbie

There is Always Next Week

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Debbie

That’s what I said last week about digging out the Christmas Tree with sore aching muscles.

Remember? I had been painting this room while the hubs was out-of-town.

And when he came back into town, he helped get the rest of the furniture moved back into the living room. In fact, he moved the furniture one evening after I had gone to bed (early) exhausted. And when I woke the next day, it was as tho somebody took a magic wand in there.

Then over the weekend, “the Tree” made an appearance as the hubs got it all set up for me. And we enjoyed the lights and flickering flame in the fireplace while relaxing during the evening hours.

But this new 9′ tree took many days to fluff the branches and decorate. Well wort the effort, if you were to ask me.

Wednesday afternoon, we had the opportunity to see rare drama here in So Cal. Image shot from my neighbors driveway. We’ve had rain on and off ever since.

Wednesday = morning book club meeting with the girls. Words are few, but my heart is full of the love we have for each other in this neighborhood and group. Then we went out for the end of the year luncheon at Olive Garden. Good times, laughter and visits = My heart beats joy. Then I had a little Wednesday afternoon scoot over to Costco with my neighbor and friend. Amazing day all the way around.

And then is where “There is Always Next Week” comes into play.

On Thursday (yesterday), I finally finished the Christmas Tree!

I must say, I’m so delighted I took the painting of the house chore on before the holidays. It’s not only nice to have it done, I finally have the paint color of choice on our walls after many many years of wanting to paint the place we get to call home.

It truly is a blessings making this place home sweet home. Hopefully for a very long time.

Blessings – Debbie

Work and Play

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Debbie

The last week has been one of work and play.

First up = Painting and more painting. The walls quickly went from the light blue tint to the light yellow tint.

Play – A play date occurred with my friend after a day of painting.

I still can’t get over how dark it is at 6:30 pm.

But a good meal was certain. I had the Buffalo Wings = Perfection!

Our boys were out of town on business – not a great shot, but it documents our lovely evening.

I’m happy the hubs wasn’t gone too long. And it makes me smile that he thinks of the littlest things he knows I like.

We’ve had 3 dates since his return Thursday. This is his Friday off week. And I consider this to be such a great weekend, it feels like vacation.

Now it’s time to wrap up this post, such that I can get back to our delightful weekend in progress.

Blessings – Debbie

Week in Review

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Debbie

A quick week in review, before I get too far behind.

Back to the weekend of September 7th.

The hubs and I did a little shopping for things around the house. And we worked a bit around the house as well.

One of the things on our shopping list, was a smoker (BBQ). We visited the grill store near us and checked out a number of smokers and gathered plenty of literature to help us pick the one to meet our needs/wants.

The hubs and I also worked a bit in the garden. The hubs chopped some wood and I got the easy job of stacking it.

This little guy grabbed my attention and I “had” to take a break and shoot him. What a Nice Weekend!

September 8th, we did a little star gazing at the Moon and Venus. Image shot from our home.

Twas a busy week, last week. Early in the week, I made a pot of bean soup. It turned out really good.

And the hubs came flying home on Tuesday the 10th. He said, “I just found our smoker!” He went on to say something like “I found a store (on Craigslist) in San Diego that is going out of business. They only have one Big Green Egg left. And it’s a bargain. And It’s just the size we want. And if I don’t go now, it’s not going to last.” And so he went and picked up the last brand spankin’ new egg in the store.

And the rest is history.

I can say that I was quite intimidated by this big guy. But excited to learn what it can do.

Brisket – The hubs called the butcher (Wednesday the 11th) and placed our brisket order, I picked it up Thursday, we put a Texas rub on it Friday morning (the hubs had Friday off) and here’s the hubs firing it up around 9 PM Friday night. He set the thermometer to ding if the temp got too high or low during the night.

This is a choice cut 12.5 pound full brisket (flat + point).

The brisket went into the Egg at exactly 9:55 PM Friday night. And oh what a busy (in and out of bed to check on the meat) night it turned out to be. Let’s not talk about that part, m’kay?

We had a little company arrive around noon (Saturday). It’s always fun sharing the excitement with others.

As the hubs reported “Parts of the brisket were tender. Other areas were tough. Clearly, I have a lot to learn. I get a C for this effort. Next time, I’ll do better.” And I report he was a little too hard on himself.

Then we put the tough parts into the crock pot and covered them with BBQ sauce. And they came out the most amazing, pull apart tender, sink your teeth into, goodness. What a yummy Sunday dinner!

I picked up my annual (small) bag of candy corn over the weekend. I love the Autumn Mix variety. There’s something about these little candies that take me back in time. And I love the autumn time travel each year.

I played with the camera, taking different angle shots of the pumpkin candy jar. Here we have the lid/stem of the pumpkin in focus.

Today I’m working on a little catch-up in the house. I’ll spare the detail, but know things are taking shape over here today.

Blessings – Debbie

Labor Day Weekend

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Debbie

Turns out, Labor Day weekend was all about labor around the house. And from what I can see, a lot of love and hard work went into making things happen.

We had 7 trees taken down. Three cedar trees – It was sad to see those beautiful trees go, but the root systems were too close to the pond. Two Brazilian pepper trees – It was also sad to see these amazing shade trees go, but the roots were a problem around the pond and house. One willow tree – The willow is my favorite tree of all time, again, the roots were a problem. And one other tree, I can’t remember the name of it, but it was in a place where we would like a path, so it had to go.

Yay for us, we kept the wood from the willow and cedar trees. Looking forward to that fire-pit one day!

And have you any idea how beautiful it smells of cedar outdoors? And the fresh mulch is plentiful.

And 3 old (very old) large stumps removed + another 4 stumps ground down on top of that. We’re not sure why the previous owners left these mammoth palm stumps or the other stumps, but they did. So the guys cut them down and the stump grinder got busy grinding out the rest of the stumps. Note: the clothesline in the right of the image was taken out over the weekend too. Can you see my happy grin?

We have plans for this area and we’re having a lot of fun tossing ideas around.

These guys were scattered about the lawn. Some were knocked down by all the commotion.

I found it interesting to take images of the chopped willow.

I read a book in a day over the weekend! That is a first for me, worthy to be noted. This is the book we voted on (last week) in the book club for the month of September. The first sentence captured my attention and could not put the book down until I had read from cover to cover.

Loved reading this on the Kindle.

Our neighbor brought over a mess of beans from their garden. What a fresh tasty treat!

We hired our old gardener from the first place we rented. It was a joy to see him again. He did amazing things around the house yesterday. And I felt pooped at the end of the day, just by observing the hard work he put in.

To break up all the work around the house over the weekend, we had a wonderful dinner out with friends Q, Julie and Phil. Outback was the place for dinner as Phil treated the first big chunk with gift cards. I had the yummy grilled chicken and veggies. And to top off our dinner, the hubs and I had our own private date at Cold Stone. The hubs had the founders favorite and I had the peanut butter cup perfection. So GOOD!

I know this is trailing my back to good health post. But allow me to say, we’re all in favor of sweet treats in moderation. And we were right back to eating healthy following that treat. And let me tell you, there is no regret.

Then today rolled around. I wasn’t ready for the hubs to go back to work. But Tuesday morning arrived. So off to work for the hubs. And it was off to work in the house for me. It was in need of a cleaning and I was just the gal for the job.

It’s good to see home sweet home taking shape. I think I’m ready for Labor Day Weekend, round #2!

Blessings – Debbie

Weekend Update

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Debbie

Good Monday Afternoon! I don’t know about you, but the weekend seemed to go at record speeds.

I worked in the garden. The hubs worked in the garage. And when we came together at the end of the day, the hubs had both of our cars parked in the garage and he had all of his tools, workbench and such put in the 3rd car stall. And I had the fish pond all sparkly clean once again. The lily pads were cleared of all dead pads and any fallen leaves were cleaned out too. It was such a nice feeling of accomplishment.

But the most exciting part of our weekend was attending the annual neighbor block-party. All the neighbors (nearly 50 of us) gathered for hors d’ oeuvres, dinner, dessert and coffee. Our neighbor put on such a beautiful spread. All tables were covered with table cloths and dotted with pretty flower arrangements. It was another beautiful cool summer night to be outdoors, visit with neighbors and greet neighbors we had yet to meet. Torches were lit at dusk and we watched the sun set down over the mountains.

One neighbor mentioned that we need to get together on their patio one evening. And another neighbor said we should do dinner one evening. It’s a feel good feeling to be here.

I debated taking my camera to the party, I did. And since the party was held right across the street from our house, I thought I had ample time to get it should I decide to take pictures. As it turned out, as much as I wanted to take pictures, I was having a bit more fun. And decided not to bother this time. Next time…

In other news, autumn is running heavily thru my veins. And I’ve had the craving for the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte for the last three days.

This picture has nothing to do with this post. It’s just one of the images I shot in the garden after it was hit by the morning sprinklers.

Another early morning image from the garden.

Sigh, In the news about Jury Duty. This is my last week to report…I hope. I had to call in again last evening. Was told not to report at this time, but to call again on Monday August 26th. That’s today. It’s been one of those months where I wonder each day if I’m going to have to report the next day. Only time will tell.

I’m not sure how many followers I have. And not sure if any of you recall my search for good health. Well I’m still rockin’ it! And I plan to post in the near future, to talk about this journey I started back in June 2011. And where I am today. And what direction I’m going. And where I see health in the future.

Until next time…

Blessings – Debbie

Soft and Sharp

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Debbie

Good evening. I find this time of day to be one of my favorite. It’s that time of day when things begin to wind down. The hubs will be in soon. Dinner will be served on the patio in a while. And all feels right with the world.

But today was good too. Food shopping was achieved early morning. I worked on getting an estimate for having some trees in the back cut down. Actually 7 trees will be removed as they are quite invasive. And worked for a while with the camera.

This time last year, I was enrolled to take my very first photography class. I was so excited and could hardly wait for my very first assignment.

This year is a little different. I put my photography classes on hold, such that I can get caught up in the new house. And to take a little rest from school.

But I have no intentions to leave the camera on the shelf. I shot several different objects and tried to frame each one in a unique way.

Taken just before sinking my teeth into this really good melon.

Here we have some succulents. I’m fond of the way these things grow without any TLC to speak of.

Soft and Sharp – Beautiful and Deadly

So I joined a photography Macro Critique group and I love it. Soft and sharp – Beautiful and Deadly is one on the remarks I received on the image below. So I thought it made for a good title too.

Saving my favorite shot of the day for last. With this image, I spent a lot of time finding the angle and how I wanted the subject to be framed in the shot. I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

In the news about my ongoing Jury Duty, I called last evening as I was instructed. And was prompted to call back again this evening. So I just got off the phone and I have to call back again tomorrow. 2 and 1/2 weeks down and 1 and 1/2 weeks of Jury Service to go.

That’s all for now folks, have a lovely evening!

Blessings – Debbie

Gardening

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Debbie

Good evening! I hope all is well in your world.

I’ve been busy around the house these days. I spent the last couple of days working in the garden = I feel pooped with a capital P, but in a good way. And I suspect I’ll be right back out there again tomorrow.

Shot this image (yesterday) while working around the roses in bloom.

The babies still have me at hello.

As I was working in the pond today (I get in there about once a week) cleaning up the lilies, I got tickled all over my legs and feet. That’s because the fish nibble on me and it really does tickle, especially when 3 or more are nibbling at once. I can’t get over how they are getting a lot more friendly as the weeks go by. And I love that they follow me all over the pond while I work. It makes my heart smile.

In the news today – Have I mentioned how much we love our neighborhood? Well, it’s an ongoing wonderful thing that we truly have really nice neighborly neighbors.

Just today, as I was working out front, I hear the warm friendly voice of my neighbor as she greeted me “Hello Debbie”. As I looked up, I saw her across the way, working in her front lawn too. And from there we began to visit. She came over to my house to see all that I’ve been up to in the garden. And I shared with her the updated paint color in the kitchen area. Then we moved on over to her place where I got the grand tour of her lovely home and garden. It’s little things like this that made this day extra special.

Feeling extra blessed to live in such a friendly neighborhood.

Blessings – Debbie

A Month of Stuff

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Debbie

Where did the month go? Tomorrow will be a month since I last posted. And things continue to move at record speed.

So like the last post, I’ll begin where I left off. I’m using the images and comments I posted on Facebook and going by the date. Off we go!

July 15 – Image from the pond this morning – There are times I get the tendency to get really excited. Especially when this gal landed. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but she’s the biggest of the dragonflies I’ve seen yet. I believe she was laying her eggs and was not pleased with me.

Having a nice Monday ~ a little lunch date with the hubs ~ a little reading on the patio ~ and taking care of the babies. We went from 10 fish to well over 50 fish in our pond. Happy Monday Peeps!

July 16 – On Yer Mark, Get Set… – I’m having a lovely Tuesday. Fish watching and dragonfly watching and bird watching = Oh My!

July 17 – Nature Weeps – The image today is honoring the little baby fish I put to rest today. I found the little 1 and 1/2 inch guy on the bottom of the pond during my morning cleaning of the pond. Cause of death – It appears a larger fish was hungry for protein.

July 18 – Joy Comes In The Morning – We woke to the fish spawning this morning.

July 19 – Having a beautiful day – It’s the hubs friday off ~ we have a friend coming over for a visit ~ It’s another breakfast, lunch and dinner on the patio kind of day + another female is spawning this morning. Happy Weekend!

July 20 – Fish Lips – Good Morning to those on the west coast and Afternoon for you on the east coast.

I would like to spend more time taking images of these guys at meal time. They are so much fun to watch.

July 22 – Capturing things around the pond is such a delight. This is one of the images I snapped this morning.

It’s a busy day – Paid a visit to The Home Depot – Picked up two different samples of paint color – Picked up a nice paint brush – Sampled both paint colors – Made my selection – Finished applying the paint from one of the samples to the walls in the kitchen – Allowing paint to dry for a final decision – And hopefully we’ll have a fresh painted kitchen tomorrow! Happy Monday!

July 23 – Somebody’s touching me – I thought it was pretty cool to watch these two fight over the same post yesterday. And then the funniest thing happened. That blue dude landed right smack dab on the orange guy’s wing…

July 26 – Chillin’ – So the last four days, I managed to paint the kitchen and dining room. Well, almost, I’m almost finished. But for today and the weekend, all paint brushes, rollers, paint and equipment are on strike until further notice.

Just for today – I managed a nap – laundry in the works – fish/pond sitting – Tea infused with honey sipping – and enjoying our new paint color. Happy Friday and the best to all of you this weekend.

July 31 – We celebrate our 14th commitment to love and to cherish each other for life. As the hubs sat across the dinner table, he said “I still remember the first time I saw you across the room”…And we reminisced from the time we first met 17 years ago. This has been an amazing journey and I’m blessed to spend all my days with my very best friend. There truly is no place I’d rather be.

This image was taken in the backyard after our anniversary dinner.

August 7 – Question ~ Can anyone tell me what this creature is? He/She lives in water as I just scooped him/her out of the bottom of the pond this morning. And scooped many others out the other day. And it’s no more than 1/2″ in size.

Note: I discovered after posting this image that he/she is dragonfly naiad! Remember all the dragonflies I shot while laying their eggs? Well here’s one of many babies I scooped out (not knowing)…

August 7 cont… – In other news, It’s been crazy ~ fun ~ busy around here the last couple of weeks. I’ve been to book club ~ To a dinner party with the hubs ~ Neighborhood picnic with the hubs last weekend ~ Getting ready to have a few neighbor girls over tomorrow morning for coffee on the patio ~ Having fun with painting the “inside” of the house ~ spending quality time with the babies ~ fortunately, we’ve been able to keep the “big” birds out of the pond ~ All of the fish are still with us, sans losing a few babies ~ And the little fry are getting so big, some are over 2″ already ~ I can’t believe how fast they grow.

August 7 continued – Kitchen before and after images. Unfortunately, I did not think to shoot before images. The before shot was taken after I unpacked the kitchen boxes. So the lighting does not do justice to that dusty pink color. But the new yellow is so cheerful. Now to decorate the upper ledges on both sides of the kitchen…

August 9 – I had a guest back to back two days in a row. How fun to do round two for coffee on the patio with my new friend.

And that brings us to the weekend. The hubs and I enjoyed a nice weekend around the house. Trees were trimmed, the lily’s in the pond were divided up as they are getting so big – the garage was tended to and garage organization is well underway.

August 12 = Today already! My goal was to hit the grocery store first thing = check! Catch up on the blog = Check! And tidy up my office space = No check for that box, yet. But I still have the afternoon. And as soon as I hit “publish” for this post, I’m moving right along such that I can put a nice check in this box by the end of the day.

Blessings – Debbie

What Friday Is Made Of

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Debbie

I got to spend the entire day around the house, it’s just what I needed.

There was a little:

coffee sipping
gardening
picture-taking
rose and flower admiring
flower transplanting
fish tending
afternoon tea
back-porch sitting

And a stop at the little gardening station in the far back.

This little can on the shelf drew my attention. And I paused to think of the previous owners who grew over 150 roses on the property. They did scale back on the roses and we’re enjoying the few that remain.

Copper Pipe Guard Posts – So the hubs hammered some copper pipe around the pond. And my what a difference it makes when I need to find a new place to move the fake egret.

All I need to do, is slip his one (straight) leg down the pipe and he’s standing “firm” and guarding the fish – like so.

The dragonfly seems to like the pipe and he thinks his job is to be on guard too. And as soon as I move the fake egret to his spot, he flies over to the spot the egret once stood.

I change the “fake” egret at least a couple of times a day. That lets the big birds understand this guy down here is busy and not hanging out in one place too long.

The heron did visit the neighbors backyard again this morning. I’m watching him, as I’m on my post too!

And I hope we can discourage him enough, such that we can enjoy having fish without too much concern.

We are two weeks in and the fish are really happy with their new digs. And I find it cute that they follow me when I pace in front of the pond.

I wasn’t so sure how they would respond when I got in the pond today. I had a little lilypad clean-up to tend to. And would you believe they came right up to me? Those little guys are something else. One of them slithered up against me and caught me off guard.

I hope to have them eating out of my hand one day.

For now, we’re enjoying them and taking things one day at a time.

Blessings – Debbie

Plan A

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Debbie

It appears the “Plan A” that was shifted from Monday and put in the Thursday slot (today) is just not working out.

So I really wanted to go to the fair. Alone. At my pace. To view all the spectacular images entered into many categories of the photography competition. I have friends who have their work on exhibit. And I wanted to see those images. I have a couple of friends who came in first place in a couple of different categories. And I’m bummed that my plan A just didn’t work out.

All plans are fun when we make them. But sometimes, something has to give.

Like having my roots colored because my girl had a cancellation this morning.

And if my girl didn’t have a cancellation, My plan A for the day was to stay home sweet home. After a busy week with the neighborhood girls, I was in the mood to be around the house.

And perhaps the fish had something to do with it too. As I missed them.

Would you like to know one of the sweetest things the hubs did yesterday?

So yesterday, I was involved with my very first book club with my new neighborhood girlfriends.

I was invited to come to the meeting even tho I had not read the book. Now after sitting thru the discussion, the novel is in my hands and I already have a good start on this book.

Back to yesterday. I was going to be away (at the book club) from the babies for a couple of hours.

And the hubs got worried that something could happen to the babies, especially since I would be gone during the usual hours the heron shows up for food.

And he couldn’t bare the thought of me getting hurt and losing a baby to the heron.

So the hubs checked his work schedule, came home to guard the babies. And he made sure our back-up decoys were armed and ready to scare the big birds away. And was back to work in time for his next meeting.

And he left the sweetest note, letting me know he had been here.

That is just like my guy and I love him so.

In other news:

Enrollment Begins July 2nd – So I received the college course schedule in the mail yesterday. Actually, the hubs brought it in.

And all I could see = Enrollment begins July 2 – WHAT!

And all I could think about is how nicely I’m sinking into summer and how I wasn’t ready for this.

So we turned the pages to the photography section and discovered thru the process that I need to take off this fall semester.

Sometimes we need to take a load off.

Cheers to hunting for paint colors and other things for the house. And cheers that school is not part of my “Plan A” this fall.

Blessings – Debbie

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A Blog About Fish

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Debbie

You would naturally think this blog has turned into a blog all about fish, predators and the egret decoy. And rightfully so, as that is where my heart has been all week.

While others have gone before us with this pond filled with fish, we are still learning the ropes. And making our way step by step.

And I can’t begin to express the amount of enjoyment these little guys bring into our lives.

And learning the heron makes his rounds, Every. Single. Day. Sometimes he’s here 2 and 3 times. But our decoy egret has done an amazing job keeping all predators away. We are amazed.

The heron is back in our neighbors backyard again this afternoon. And he’s still mad. And we wonder if he will eventually make a move. Or will he eventually catch on that this pond is not for him.

The crazy thing about him today, is that he’s been over there pacing that yard just over 2.5 hours and still counting.

In the meantime, our fish are happy. Our waterlilies are in beautiful bloom and all is right with the pond.

True, the hubs and I have an eye out back. But we’re still getting things done in the house.

The hubs has been working with the electrician in the house all week. He’s having the house wired with speaker cable for surround sound, the patio speakers wired, new TV cable, new internet cables and installing a home network center. Most of the above is beyond me, but it should pretty cool.

It’s nice to see things taking shape and we look forward to making this home for a very long time.

Blessings – Debbie

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Plan A

Enrollment Begins July 2nd – So I received the college course schedule in the mail yesterday. Actually, the hubs brought it in.

And all I could see = Enrollment begins July 2 – WHAT!

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A Blog About Fish

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