I’m An “Alarmist” and Going To The Lake

NOTE:   I STARTED THIS POST SUNDAY NIGHT AND I’M JUST NOW GETTING IT POSTED!

We kept the twins from last Thursday until Sunday and while we love those babies and every minute with them, I know now why God gives babies to young folks.     Here’s how it went down for me:

Pick them up at school Thursday afternoon, go to their house to get Taylor ready for her ballgame which doesn’t start until 7:15 p.m. (what idiot schedules ballgames for 6-7 year olds at that time of night?), get home close to 9:00…their mama said they had to have baths and hair washed because school pictures were the next day….let Jackson go on to bed since he was sooo tired, got Taylor’s bath and hair washed and in bed by 9::30-ish.    Then the fun started for me!    I thought I turned on the house alarm and went to Jackson’s room to check on him….coming out the alarm went off and it’s LOUD!     The phone rings, it’s the alarm company, I told them what had happened and everything was okay.    Then daughter calls from New Orleans (they called her) and wanted to know what had happened….then husband calls (we are apparently on their call list too) and again, I explained that I must have done something wrong so I had just turned it off.     So I got my pj’s on and went to the kitchen to fix myself some tea when the doorbell rings!    It’s the police!!!    I told him he was welcome to come in and look around that I had no idea what I’d done but that I was leaving that sucker off!     Apparently, I didn’t turn off the motion detector.    We don’t have an alarm at our house (probably should) but I hate those things!

Okay, on Friday after dropping them off at school, I raced home to get myself ready so I could pick up mama and take her to the beauty shop.    Right after we got through there around noon, I got another call from daughter who said the school had called them and said school was closing at 1:00 due to the severe weather coming through our area.    Based on what I’m seeing on the news, we escaped pretty easily compared to the total destruction experienced in many of our sister states….my prayers go out to all the families who have lost so much.

We left for my sister’s lake house on Saturday morning to spend the day.    They live in Talladega and since it was race weekend, they escape their little town and all that craziness to their lake house.   

What a perfect day for the lake….look at that water!

 

View from top of driveway looking down at boathouses

 

We got to the lake a little ahead of my sister so we drove down to the end of the road where this lovely old church stands.   Husband had never seen it and Taylor and Jackson enjoyed getting out and running around.      Most Sundays in the summer months the locals attend church in this quaint little church.    Take a look inside at how primitive it is.

 

 

Looks like someone tied these floral bundles on the pews last fall

 

 

Sweet alter

 

Collection plates

 

So primitive but so beautiful in it’s simplicity

 

We went outside and walked across the road to an old cemetery.    It was hard to read the headstones but most looked to be in the early 1800’s!

There is an outcropping of old stones all around the church and in the cemetery.    I snapped a couple of photos of Taylor so I could send them to her mama’s phone.

 

My angel baby….she’s growing up way too fast.     (She picked out her own clothes for the lake and I certainly wasn’t going to argue with her!)

My sister and her husband had their grandson who is 4 so we had two 6 year olds and one 4 year old….let’s just say my brother in law makes a mean margarita and we needed one by late afternoon!     At the lake, it’s all about eating and we snacked on stuff all afternoon.    It was real windy and cool on the lake  but we finally got the boat out around 5:00 to take the kids out for a ride.

Here are the two boathouses

This is my brother-in-law’s latest toy he got last year

My sister backing up “her” boat….my favorite, the pontoon boat

 

Looking up at the side deck from the boathouse

Then out on the water…..it was really cool, the kids had one coats under their lifejackets and we had a couple of blankets which we very much needed on the water

Here’s my sister ….we have such a good time together

My big man Jackson….he loves riding on the boat

 

Taylor wanted to take off her lifejacket but she knows anytime we’re at the lake it stays on when she’s around the water

 

 

 

 

 

Their mama and daddy got home around 3:00…just in time to take the kids to the Easter egg hunt at their church.    I headed home and husband and I sat outside on the back deck getting some much needed rest!    We noticed how much work needs to be done to the yard before next weekend when we’re having all the family over for lunch.   

That’s about it for me this week.    I hope everyone has a wonderful week and please keep everyone that might have been affected by the deadly tornados in your thoughts and prayers.

Dear Lillie–I Love You!

Unless you’re living under a rock, I’m guessing you know the gorgeous blog Dear Lillie written by the lovely Jennifer.      I love everything about her blog, from her beautiful home, to her photography and last but certainly not least, her most photogenic-in-the-world little girl, Lillie Annabelle.       Recently Jenn posted about her Easter egg topiary and when I saw what she’d done to a “rainbow bright” egg topiary, that set the wheels in motion as I remembered I had one very similar in my Easter stash.     When I finally talked husband into getting my Easter decorations down from the attic, I dug through all the containers until I found my egg topiary.     Jennifer’s is a little different from mine but I knew I just had to try and copy hers….it was so adorable!

 

Here’s what Jennifer’s looked like to start with…

….and this is the final result!

 

I can’t believe I can’t find a “before” picture of my topiary but it was very much like Jennifer’s except the eggs weren’t as close together.    Jennifer said she just sprayed hers without taking off the eggs but I went ahead and removed the eggs then had a hard time trying to place them back “just so”….I  winged it and then filled the empty spaces with faux grass.

So without further ado, here’s my “Dear Lillie” version of my own egg topiary…

 

I set up a little Easter tablescape on the dining room table by putting the topiary in my existing urn and surrounding it with my book bundles (made by moi!) and a sweet cream colored bunny. 

  

I set the table using woven charges, topped off with white chargers from Kirklands (they were originally gold and I sprayed them white at Christmas) and white dishes.    On top of the plates I added my linen napkins and some silverware.    I’ve misplaced a fork so one of the place settings is incomplete (which drives me nuts!)

 

A few close ups

 

I found this grass in Wal Mart while down at the beach this past weekend.    I like the green with the all white.

That’s about all the Easter decorating I’ve done inside and it will probably be all I do.    Sometimes “less IS more”!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my copy-cat egg topiary.      It was super easy and I only had to buy a can of spray paint and the grass.     Please be sure to visit Jennifer’s blog for some inspiration and eye candy.    She is due to have another little girl in a few weeks so wish her well in her delivery!

.    

Beach Trip 2011

Last Thursday morning David and I headed out to one of our favorite places to go….Gulf Shores/Orange Beach just “down the road a piece”….about 3 hours from home.     We arrived shortly after lunch and checked into our hotel.     This is the first time we’ve stayed at a hotel vs. a condo and I doubt we do the hotel thing again….we’re just too spoiled to having a nice big condo and not  a little bitty hotel room where we’re tripping over each other….oh, well, live and learn!

Here’s a view from our hotel room THE WHOLE TIME we were at the beach….everyone there was surprised at the fog, I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone movie, you couldn’t even see the water!

 

Here’s a view outside our hotel room!

 

Can you believe this?    We only got out on the beach one day for about 1/2 hour, that’s the only time the sun was out…at least in Orange Beach.    When we left and rode out to Foley the sun was out there!

 

Here’s the best it got on Saturday afternoon….just as soon as we got down to the water, the fog rolled back in!

 

 

Anyway, that didn’t stop us from shopping and eating!     Friday we went to Lulu’s a/k/a Lucy Buffet’s place.    We did a little shopping in the gift shop for the grandbabies then went over to the restaurant for lunch.    Unbeknownst to me, hubby had eaten twice at the hotel while I was getting  ready  so he wasn’t very hungry.   I ordered the shrimp salad which came with two fried green tomatoes.    

 

 

Oh, my goodness, that was the best shrimp salad I’ve ever tasted!    I was going to buy the cookbook that had the recipe in it but I found it on line and I can’t wait to make it.     In case you’d like the recipe, here’s a link.

 

 

 

 

Don’t you just love these pendent lights?    They remind me of something out of a Pottery Barn catalog

 

We went to the outlets and looked around a little but didn’t buy anything there either.    We ended up just going to Wal Mart and a few souvenier shops then back to the hotel to rest before going out Friday night to eat.     David wanted to go back to Lulu’s and so did I!     We got there at 6:00 p.m. and had an hour and a half wait but it was so nice outside, I had a little cocktail and we people watched!    It is such a family friendly place and we loved watching kids (both young and old) hula hoop.    Then the band started playing and they played songs even we knew!        We finally got our table at 7:30 and I immediately ordered the shrimp salad again!    Yes, it was that good.       David just had to order dessert and it was some kind of donut/bread pudding concoction….I just called it “death by donut”!     

 

 

By this time, I knew I’d blown my diet and so next week I’ll be eating much better!  

 

 

 

 

 

I think the lead singer  was channeling  Roy Orbison….he looked like him and sounded like him.

 

One of the beach shops I went in had these great subway signs, I wanted to buy one but I didn’t.    I might have to try my hand at making one, not sure how that will turn out.

 

 

 

David had been wanting ribs since we got down there.    Saturday night we went to Reds and Ribs which is across the street from The Hangout.     I must say the food and service were really good.    We had an appetizer of ribs which were falling-off-the-bone good and each of us ordered the catfish plate.    We should have shared because it way more food than I could eat.    

 

 

Sunday morning we got up and headed home around 10:00.    We stopped and ate at one of our favorite places in Greenville called Bates House of Turkey.   

 

 

David had the turkey salad plate and I had the smoked turkey sandwich.   At least we felt like we were eating a little better.    

 

But could we just leave well enough alone?    Oh, no!    We just had to stop at  Priester’s Pecans and sample lots of their pecans!   

 

 

Surprisingly, all I bought this trip was a pretty white lamp with drum shade at Old Time Pottery and some little $5.00 frames at Family Dollar I’m going to repaint and distress to use on a gallery wall I’m planning.      I’ve really tried to not buy much of anything  lately but just use what I have and take my time to make choices before buying things for the house.     I’d love to get Holly Mathis to help with some choices about our bedroom (I just can’t seem to get a handle on it and I love her designs)  and next year (when our house is paid off!) I want to completely re-do our den….re-paint, add picture frame molding under the chair rail, get some slipcovered furniture, add a new seagrass rug, etc.    I haven’t mentioned ALL of this to dear husband yet!    Oh, I’d also like to add some beams to our vaulted ceiling….lots of “wants”!

Next Thursday-Sunday we’ll be keeping our twin grandbabies while their mama and daddy take their annual trip with several couples to the Big Easy.      We plan on taking them to the lake on Saturday and then to church with us on Sunday morning.      Sunday afternoon they will have a pre-Easter thing at their church so we’ll take them to their other grandparents who attend that church.     I’ll be ready for another vacation by then!     But I will be going back to the lake again at the end of this month with my sister for our annual girl’s weekend there.

Have a great week!

Wish you were here….

…I’ll be back soon!