Getting Used To Country Life

We've always lived in suburban  subdivision, with gas stations and stores less than five minutes away.

Now the closest store or gas station is fifteen minutes away. Convenient enough but far away enough to keep the hustle and bustle at bay.

The past few days I've gotten home from work around four and before ever even going inside the house, I walked inside the gate into the yards and simply sat in a lounge chair, taking in the quiet, spectacular beauty of the nature preserve where we were lucky enough to purchase our forever home. Hawks soar overhead, floating on the breeze and on lucky days you catch a bald eagle circling above. Even Ziggy has gotten used to the sand hill cranes strolling slowly down the street in front of our house.

Who wants to go inside immediately after getting home when you can sit a spell in these yards?

Especially on a sunny, warm and balmy day...in early February.

Granted, some peeps don't enjoy yard work (or having to pay someone to do it)  so this wouldn't be the ideal place for them.

For this girl...

it's a dream come true.

When we lived in Newnan (above) our yards were always immaculate...front and back.

My nephew one time commented to my sister, "Aunt Kelly's front yard looks like a putting green."

Yes, and Thank you !

Four hours spent in a yard can make turning in your driveway every day a delight.

I don't care how hot it is. I can always go inside for a break and hydration. 

It's just my thing.

Massey took this pic of me headed to my parents gravesite to clean up a bit, years ago when we lived in Georgia.

The last things left of mine in Georgia, besides the house itself are my yard tools, chain saw and my Johnny Dear.

I guess I'll borrow my brothers' truck one weekend and travel up to bring it all down here in one load.

Yes, I'm the crazy one who loves, loves, loves yard work.

Back in Georgia I used to cut the yards of people who moved out and had their houses up for sale in the neighborhood. One house sat vacant for almost an entire year and I cut it twice a month every summer.

I can't tell you how excited I was to discover bananas growing at the top of one of the many banana trees in our yard.

Don't ask me what the alien looking thing dropping down from the bunch of bananas is, but assume it was a pod or seed at some point.

I also have azaleas in abundance, still in bloom since we moved in the first week of December. There are birds of paradise blooming, wisteria, camelias and plants I've never even seen before.

Everyone is super friendly, and neighborly. Several people have stopped by when walking their dog to introduce themeselves and one woman even  wandered the property with me, pointing out more fascinating plants or features.

We went to an HOA chili cookoff around the middle of January so we could join the (voluntary) HOA at the gated Isle of Pines park, on the lake across the street from our house. They have a huge pavilion, restrooms, catwalk, dock, basketball court and boat ramp. For ten bucks a year you get a key to the park and can go there any time. Every Friday night around sunset, residents pack a cooler and enjoy watching the sunset over the lake together, with an adult beverage or whatever they want to bring.


While there, we met the man who did all the tile work in our house and several others who knew the woman who lived here before us.

More than a few of them said they had been to a party at our house, more than once.

If only this fire pit in our back yard could talk.

Or this porch.

Or this Tiki bar.


We've already added the the go ahead lights.

The house was built when I was seven years old.
In other words, solidly built.

It's no mansion, far from it.


It's simply "Us".

There's room for all of us and room for visitors.

One of the (many) things I love about this house, is that every single window has a spectacular view.
How lucky is that?

You don't see other houses , we only have one slim view of the top of the house next door when you pull in the driveway. We can hear one family behind us when they have company over on weekends and from their musical selections think we'll end up being friends as well.

It was a tough decade.

Not gonna lie.

I've never needed or wanted a mansion.

I've wanted a home that suits me.

Guess who got that home?!

Til next time...

COTTON

Flintstone Vs Jetson

Massey is most definitely a Jetson.

I'm half Flintstone half Clampett.

(not a good combo in this techno world) 

At least I still weigh the same as I did in high school (and was slim then) have a somewhat sassy hair do, and even luckier...have a daughter still living with me who knows every thing I don't.

When we were in the process of buying our new home, I'm quite sure Tim and I were the water cooler funny story every morning at the mortgage lenders' office.

It took me twenty minutes to open an attachment the first time they sent one to me.

The process of e-signing it took an additional hour of trial and error, followed by fifteen more minutes of figuring out how to send it back.

Yeah, these are me.

Heck, I still go through a book of stamps in less than two weeks, and that's not counting bills. Texting is okay for a rapidly needed response and I'm fine with e-mailing too but would much rather sit down usually (pretty much always) at night, with a glass of wine and my favorite pen and paper. 

It's a challenge to me.

Sometimes I have to think of, or search for the exact word, to convey via pen and paper the feeling or emotion I am wanting to get across.

It's exhilarating to me to think that maybe people who receive something from me snail mail, actually get it  (my exact feeling) simply from the way I express it on paper, with an ink pen none the less!

Technology and money are both over rated if you ask me.

Unfortunately living in 2019 for me, requires both.

I've never seen a movie before I've read the book. Same with Game of Thrones. Read every book, lost interest after season two on HBO.

Loved the books though!

Words are powerful, when chosen and used wisely.

There's nothing more relaxing and satisfying to me, than sitting down with pen and paper... and expanding on life, my own experiences or maybe someone elses... beyond all texting, e-mailing and social media... and forwarding that to someone... for them to literally open with their hands after retrieving it from their mailbox and read it.

My message is one you can actually have and keep  in your possession. 

You can keep it for as long as you want. (without ever having to  click and  save)

As humans, we need to reach out more to each other, in a physical way.

Whether it be a nod to let someone else go ahead in front of you, or a smile to enjoy anothers' moment you simply happen upon and witness, as it occurs.

Sometimes, people just need a hug.

Life is a heck of a lot more than copy and paste.

Live your moment.

Til next time ...COTTON

Happy Birthday Jed

Tomorrow is my husband's fifty seventh birthday.

Our oldest will be thirty three in two months.

Our younger son will be twenty seven this July.

Our youngest turns twenty four this August.

 We have literally grown, and gone, from here...

to here.

It has been quite the adventure since first meeting Tim back in 1988.

He literally asked me if I'd marry him after we had been dating for less than a month.

Instead I moved in, and we lived in sin for two years before marrying in 1990.

First we lived here.

Then we lived here.

Then life, as we had known it for well over two decades screeched to a halt.

And almost ten years later we ended up renting here for two years.

Here's the thing ...

We both lost faith in our selves, our marriage and in each other... for a minute, during the storm.

I think simply walking away crossed both of our minds, more than once.

My Momma didn't raise no quitter.

And Tim stepped up....even though it meant he had to do it a thousand miles away from home.

I met him at the airport one afternoon, on my lunch break, and saw him off on a plane for Lubbock Texas.

 He was gone almost two years.

When I look at this picture, I can see the pain in his eyes. Sometimes it brings tears to my own.

I know it was hard on him, feeling like a failure, after losing his job.

It didn't help that I lost my own shortly after.

It was a Self Pity Party Battle Royale I was determined to win.

I have a very bossy way about me.

Luckily I married the Job of Jeds.

#BibleMeetsTheClampetts

Our house was almost next to go.

Then we both took off our skirts and got in the game.

And now we live here...

So Happiest of Birthdays to my husband and friend of over thirty one years.

He actually came by his nickname of Jed because he is a man of few words, notorious for slowly shaking his head from side to side when I say something ridiculous (which is frequently) and sometimes mutters "Pitiful...just pitiful."

I've always loved you, but it's nice to be in love with you again.

You asked me to this dance of life.

Let's be the old couple behind us some day.

Happy Birthday, Partner!

And quit looking so happy with my sister. 

I'd hate for us all to end up on Springer!

It truly takes a village, and we were always fortunate enough to have one.

Here's to at least thirty more years or so.

This new 'Hello' has been awesome.

Thank You.

As I type, Timbo is snoozing away in a motel in Virginia, where he will be working all week. So his birthday and our Valentines Day will be spent apart.

We are still two of the luckiest people on this earth...

and both know it.

#Gratefulforeverybreath

Til next time...COTTON