Alaska!

If you're here on a regular basis you know that Dean is in Alaska this week on a fishing trip. Being alone has been interesting to say the least. Also exhausting because I'm not sleeping well.  They arrived in Alaska Saturday night & spent all day Sunday sightseeing.

These are pictures that Dean took on their day trip to Seward, AK which is about 2.5 hours from Anchorage. These are all from his iPhone that he texted me. He's taken lots of pics with our camera  but I'll have to wait until he gets home to post those.

I'm just amazed at how pretty it is! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. Right now there's about 17 hours of daylight in Alaska with a high around 55-60 degrees but it's also the rainy season. They've had showers everyday but nothing too bad. The only complaint they've had so far is that since it's so cool the hotel they stayed at the first 2 nights in Anchorage doesn't have the A/C on & the room is stuffy. They fixed that after the first night. This is what Dean calls "Alaska A/C".

Monday morning they had to fly on one of those sea planes to get to the fishing lodge where they'll be staying the remainder of the week. This is Dean on the plane. All the passengers get to wear headphones & ask the pilot questions as they fly. I, personally think the pilot needs to be concentrating on the flight & landing but that's just me.

There's no cell service at the lodge but they do have WiFi. It's a little sketchy but we've been able to use Facetime on our iPhones every night which is really cool.

I'm linking up to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.

Toodles!

Intervention??

I've said before I think I may have a problem. I love to go to the Nursery. I would love to have plants everywhere! Of course I'm not thrilled about the weeding aspect. Saturday, while we were out getting the plants for our other project I picked up some Verbena for hanging pots.

I haven't had the best luck with hanging plants so I decided to spend less money & buy the little plants rather than spend $20 for a big hanging plant that might not live. The Verbena's were on sale so I got some to put in this pot that I already had.

I also bought a new pot Saturday. Somehow I managed to not buy anything to put in this pot. After work today I stopped at Louisiana Nursery to get something for it. I've said before how much I dislike this store because their customer service is AWFUL! I've said time & again that I wouldn't go back but it's less than 5 mins. from work & it's on the way home so I end up there more often than I'd like. Well, I have to compliment them because I had a much better experience today than I've ever had. They're giving out what they call "Nursery Bucks". It's a little punch card based on how much you spend. Normally, I forget to ask for them & they're not very forthcoming with them. The cashier not only gave them to me without me asking but when I commented that I was there a couple of weeks ago & didn't get any she gave me those too. There are several dates that the bucks can be redeemed.  Anyway, I bought some Celosia, Vinca & Dianthus. I have a bit of a problem determining how many plants I need. I either end up with not enough or too many. This time? Too many.

I put the pink Celosia & the Mediterranean White Broadeye Vinca in this pot. The Vinca is white flowers with a pink center. I ended up with a few extra Verbena Saturday so I bought a pot today too. They were 40% off so I got this one for $12.

I have it sitting on our new patio table. So, I ended up with 2 Dianthus plants left. I was out of pots so I planted them in the rock garden.

The darker pink flowers on the left are Raspberry Super Parfait & the other one is Strawberry Super Parfait. Hopefully, I can take pictures in a couple of weeks & everything will be much bigger! See why I think I may need an intervention? I'm going to try my best not to go back to the nursery until I can use my "Nursery Bucks"!!

I'm linking to A Southern Daydreamer

and Elements Interiors

Toodles!

Outdoor Wednesday

Yesterday when I said I was glad for the rain because of my allergies I certainly didn't mean that we needed the hurricane like weather that we got last night. I woke up at 1:30 (at least I thought it was 1:30) to the sound of extremely loud thunder & lightening. I went back to sleep & then woke up at 12:45 so apparently, it was 11 something when I woke up the first time. I can't see a thing without my glasses or contacts so it's easy to understand why I couldn't see the clock clearly. Well, the thunder & lightening was accompanied by storming rain & wind this time. This went on all night. I can't tell you how many times I woke up. Really unusual for me. Thankfully, the sun is out now & all the rain appears to be gone. I expect my yard to really look good when I get home. Everything really perks up after it gets good rain water.

Saturday while I was laying out by the pool Dean was cutting the grass. Our backyard backs up to some partially wooded acreage that is separated by a large ditch thingy. Dean motioned for me to come see something. I was a little leery but he didn't seem panicked so it must be ok. When the Mississippi River is high, the ditch will have water in it as is the case now. This is what I saw.

On the bottom log there were 4 or 5 more turtles but I guess they heard me & got spooked because they dove off the log into the water.

With all the things we've found in the yard & in the pool I'm surprised that this is the first time we've seen turtles. These guys remind me of when I was a kid. Me & my brother had pet turtles. My daddy & brother would find them when they went fishing. My daddy built this huge habitat thing for them & it had sand & a black iron skillet filled with water for a little pool. There was an unfortunate incident with ants eating the turtles eyeballs & that was that.

Toodles!

A Southern Daydreamer

We had a guest

Sunday morning Dean looked outside & saw that we had a visitor at the pool.

I have mixed feelings about squirrels. I don't mind watching them run around & play but if I watch too long I start to realize just how much they look like rats with fluffy tails. I don't like rats or mice AT ALL. 

This squirrel was kind of weird. I opened the back door & walked closer & closer to him while taking pictures & he just sat there looking at me. It was like he was posing for a photo shoot. 

The squirrel is at the deep end of the pool & I was standing by the shallow end using my zoom. He didn't seem the least bit scared.

I didn't realize when I was taking the pictures how much he blended in with the rocks around the pool.

I kept waiting for him to jump in for a swim but he would just scoot down like he is in the above picture & drink a little water & then go back on top of the rock.

In case you're wondering, those blue things you see in the last 2 pictures are the solar rings we put in the pool to warm up the water this time of year.

I'm linking up to Outdoor Wednesday at  A Southern Daydreamer

 Toodles!

Outdoor Wednesday at LSU

I told y'all about our day of tailgating Saturday. Here are some pictures that I took. A big tradition at LSU is watching the band march down the hill. One of our friends has a prime tailgating spot so we watched from there. A lot of you may not know but LSU's mascot is Mike the Tiger & we have a live Bengal Tiger. He rides in a trailer down the hill, into the stadium & around the field during pregame. Well, sometimes he does. He lives in a multi million dollar habitat. Apparently, it's made him a diva because on a regular basis he refuses to get in his trailer & nobody makes him. This week we played Alabama & I guess he even knew the importance of the game because he cooperated. Here he is.

These are the LSU Golden Girls

The Flag Corp

The Golden Band From Tigerland is how the LSU band is known.

The police are on horses to keep the crowd back.  There are over 100,000 people on campus & a large number are intoxicated. If the po-po wasn't there I can assure you there would be multiple fools attempting to march with the band.

There they go.

I had to include this picture again because I love it so much!

I'm linking up to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamers.

Toodles!!

Outdoor Wednesday

Sunday afternoon Dean & I went to the nursery so I could get some mums & pumpkins for the porch. I could've spent hundreds of dollars! They had pumpkins all different sizes & colors & the mums were soooo pretty. I seriously wanted to buy a bunch of stuff but I refrained. Well, somewhat. When we got home I hung the wreaths I made on the door.

Then I put the mums & pumpkins out.

I love mums!

I saw a pepper plant & couldn't resist.

I've seen these on other blogs & always thought they were so pretty but I never think to look for them when I'm at the nursery. Sunday, they were the first plant that I saw. I'm going to try really hard to keep it alive. I seem to have problems with potted plants & hanging plants. Hopefully, the pepper plant will be different!!

I'm linking to A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

Toodles!

Outdoor Wednesday

Now that it's starting to cool off here my lantana's have gone crazy! Seriously, the one I have planted in my rock garden is out of control.

Told ya! I have a problem keeping things alive in hanging baskets so I planted lantana in them this year. EPIC fail. They died too. I'm not really sure what the problem is. Any ideas? I really like ferns in hanging baskets but I usually can't get those to live for more than a few weeks. I need help! Anyway, I'm glad the lantana on the ground are doing so well.

Saturday I noticed there was a flock of butterflies hanging out around the lantana. I know it's a plant that attracts them but I've never seen so many at once. There were at least 5 big ones & a bunch of itty bitty baby butterflies. They were so cute!

 I wasn't able to get any pics of the babies. They were moving so fast!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm linking to A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

Toodles!!!

My Little Pets

We don't have any pets at my house so when the Hummingbirds start showing up I make sure to have "food" out for them. Aside from planting lots of Hummingbird loving plants, I put out the sugar water. The last week they've been all over the place. I guess they're filling up for when they leave. I have 2 feeders out. This one is right outside the living room so I can watch them from the sofa.

This guy seems to be Mr. In Charge. He kept chasing off the other ones. 

Can you tell there are 3 on this feeder?

I took this one this morning. I know these aren't good pictures but I was having to take them through the window so as not to scare them off.

At one point this morning there were 7 at the feeder! It was so neat to watch.

I'll miss them when they're gone.

I'm joining the party at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

Toodles!

I'm STILL freezing!

I swear all I've done is complain about how cold it is for days & I don't see an end in sight. It was 28 when I left. RIDICULOUS!!!! I keep finding problems with it being so cold. Like yesterday, I went to Hobby Lobby after work & of course I have on a coat. Well, by the time I left I was burning up. When I got home I told Dean that I can't find one good thing about the cold & his response was that there aren't any mosquitos. Hmmm, ok fine whatever. Well, not 5 minutes later a stupid mosquito goes flying by. So much for that. Now it's cold & I have to worry about being bit in my house. I cannot get West Nile! Our cruise leaves in 10 days!!!

Anyway, I'm joining in on Outdoor Wednesday hosted by A Southern Daydreamer. I thought it would make me feel better to look at some nice, pretty pictures.

This is the backyard when it snowed in December 2008.


This the front of the house.


Yes, I took the picture from my car because I was one of the few people that had to go to work that day.

This is when it snowed in December 2009. Yes, I do live in Louisiana & yes it has really snowed here 2 years in a row. So much for global warming.




Now onto something more pleasant, summer pics! I came home one day to find this hanging out by the pool.


We found these crawfish in the pool all summer. It ranged from just a couple to almost a dozen one day.


THIS is the Norwegian Spirit. I will be on this boat in 10 days & CANNOT wait!!!


Toodles!