Monday Message

~ My Monday Message ~

~ In Remembrance of My Sister ~

I thought of you today, but that is nothing new.  I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too.  I think of you in silence, I often speak your name.  All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. 
Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part. God has you in His arms. 
I have you in my heart.  

In Loving Memory of My Sister 
~ Sherry Colleen Curtis ~
April 23, 1957 - September 22, 2013

Celebration of Life for Sherry

"FOOTPRINTS" was a favorite of Sherry's, she had plaques and photos of it around her home.  It was used in the Stevens Mortuary pamphlet for the Funeral Service information, along with a photo of Sherry.

~.~.~   ~.~.~   ~.~.~

~ In Loving Memory of Sister ~

My Dear Sister, I know there is another angel in heaven today, and you have a new pair of angel’s wings. You have been released from pain and suffering, you have been set free. Go on and fly freely Sherry, soar higher than the rainbows and far beyond those stars. I'll miss your smile and your infectious laughter. I know you will always be around us, engulfing us with your love. Gone from sight but never from my heart, where you will live on forever. Rest in peace sweet Sister. I miss you. I love you, always! ~Tammy

image source

Outdoor Project: Week one

As changes are being made to our deck area, we have been busy making some other changes in the back yard too.  Hubs has been doing most of the hard and heavy work.  A lot of chopping down, cleaning out, heavy lifting and various other duties, along with a good days worth of help from daughter Sara too, in adding to the over all and soon to be revealed transformation of our outdoor space.  

A sneak peak at some of what has been going on around here.

Thursday the deck was being rebuilt.  This is literally a peak out the back door to see the new deck in the works!

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A peek-a-boo view through the blinds, I see the deck floor coming along!

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Although we do own two sport utility vehicles, a rent-a-truck was a better option for obtaining pallets of pave stones.

  Sara volunteered her services on Saturday with a big chore of unloading and staging the stones.  What an awesome kid to do such a good and kind deed!  There was a grateful reward given of a nice dinner after the hard work!


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Oh and by-the-way, Sara, she cleans-up well too.  Brawn, brains and beauty!

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Part of the scene of a much needed chopping aftermath, turned more stuff to clean-up and dispose of.

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By Friday:  The deck floor was complete and we are able to walk out on it now.  Marty completed more cutting and trimming over the weekend, now to get the mess hauled away! 

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Early morning on Monday and ready for more work to be done.  Aeon seems a bit puzzled by the change to the deck, and we are keeping a close eye on him to be careful at the edge!

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Starting to get a vision of the upper portion being installed.  Large holes ready for inspection for the concrete and more of the posts to be installed.  More wood was delivered on Wednesday and we were told much of it will be added by the weekend!  

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We are happy with the progress so far.  It's exciting to watch it being created and changing in appearance each day!  The weather has been perfect thus far, but expected rain over the weekend.  More work to be done again on next Monday.

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Some re-potting and moving around of a few plants that had been on or near the deck.  I have been looking at some new pretties at the garden center that may have to make their way into the plan too!

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One of my favorite old plants that I have had growing in a pot on the deck for years.

This poor thing needed some attention which it hasn't been getting during all of the events of the past few weeks, and from being neglected out in the heat!  But luckily it is a pretty hardy plant and will forgive me (I hope) and come back even stronger and prettier, in this new pot I bought for it that I really like (a shame I only found one!).  FYI, this plant is named Vinca-minor or small periwinkle, which often has pretty little violet-purple flowers from spring through the summer, and sometimes into fall too.  It's often used as a ground cover.

More reveal soon!...
~ Tammy ~

Happy Birthday Daughter

Monday Message

~ My Monday Message ~

Know the importance of finding the joy in the simple things in life and always remember to celebrate those moments.

If we only live life with the expectation of everything having to be perfect, we can miss out on the the opportunity of finding the magical moments of life and living life to the fullest, by not seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Outdoor Project: Begins

Our outdoor project officially began yesterday!

I am so excited that this long awaited dream is in the process of becoming a reality!  Our eighteen year old deck has served its purpose but it has been a bit of an eyesore for the past couple of years from neglect and not painting it due to our planning on re-decking, which we said we would do last year, and the year before that! Well, that obviously didn't happen, and so over the past winter it was talked about again as the plan this year. In the spring the plan turned into an even bigger plan/dream.  A covered deck maybe, possibly even screened-in?  We began our planning with much thought and detail, along with many photos of outdoor inspiration. Through four different contractors and much thought, proposals, budgeting, negotiations, permitting and more, we are now in full swing and the old will now become the new!   

We decided on a covered deck, slightly larger (by a couple feet), some layout changes and additions that will make this our vision turned reality.  We expect the project to take about a month or so to completion.  Here we go! 

Day 1.  The deck was removed in a matter of a few hours and quickly became a pile of rubble.

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Some before and after demo photos!

I won't miss the ugly, dirty covers on the furniture!  

I think our dog will miss this bench though.

Ready for demo!  

It looks a bit more gloomy at sunset the night before demo.

Last view of it from the yard.

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The crew began preparing early morning, then off went the rails!

...and the deck floor too.

Then there was nothing, except this eyesore!

...and a pile of rubble indeed!

Wow!

Bye-bye old deck!

More to come later!...

~ Tammy ~

~ Tammy's Tip Today ~ Butt Rub

Bad Byron's Butt Rub 

...that is!

Let me tell you about Bad Byron's Butt Rub!

If you haven't tried this yet, I'll say you  should  must!  I love this stuff, it's my 'go to seasoning' for meats, and it has a bit of heat and the right amount of spice to make it perfect, if you ask me.   I use it mostly on chicken and pork chops, but it's great on steak, seafood, and burgers too.  It's even great on veggies.  Whether I am cooking something on the BBQ grill, the stove-top, or in the oven, I know a little Butt Rub is going to make it better!  It does have a funny name, but it has a great taste!  It's all natural, gluten free, and has no sugar or MSG.  I find mine at my local grocery store near all the other seasonings and herbs.

as it says...

"A little Butt Rub makes everything better"

Now go get you some Butt Rub! 

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Hope you enjoy your Butt Rub as much I do mine!{giggles}...

Concert - Steely Dan - Birthday for Hubby

We attended the Steely Dan Concert last night!  This was a special gift I gave to Hubby for his birthday, which actually is today.  We had a fantastic time!  We are both in agreement in saying this was one of the the best shows we have seen.  We are huge fans of Steely Dan and this was a royal treat for us!  They opened the show playing the entire "Aja" album, which by the way is Marty's favorite of theirs.  We have seen them perform live before, but this was made even better by the songs they played, which included most of our all time favorites, and the seats we had -5th row from the stage!  This was an outdoor event at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta, Georgia.  A perfect evening for a perfect show!  A very memorable birthday gift for Marty!

Ready for an evening with Steely Dan!

Preparing the stage.
Nice seats, close to the stage!

Marty bought a t-shirt in memory of the event.

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Good times!...

~ Tammy ~

Aeon @ 7.5 months

Our boy Aeon is over 7.5 months old now and he weighs over 75 pounds!  The weight gain has slowed a little, but he is still gaining.  I enjoy taking photos of him, he is such a great subject to photograph!  Just about every time I look at him I want to capture what my eyes see, to have a lasting image of it!  He seems to be such a happy boy and I am sure he is smiling most of the time.  It's cute when he gets a quizzical look and sometimes the head cocked sideways looks as if he is saying "I don't know what you're saying".   He sure knows the word "treat" or "cookie" though.  Those words get him to pay attention real quick!  

So far Aeon seems to be a well behaved house pet.  He only has crate time now if we leave him home alone.  He sleeps freely at night near us with no problems, and we can even ask him to go lay down on his bed if he wakes us earlier then we wish to be awakened.  He is very content to be close to us at all times, day or night, sometimes literally right under foot, or on top of our feet too!  He's quite the character most of the time and only adds joy to our every day!

Doing down-stay, and waiting for a treat! " Good boy!"

"I'm going to get a treat" face.

Aeon's a happy boy!

"Did you say treat?"

Aeon enjoys going out with us, and gets excited when he knows he's going for a ride!

Love his big square head!

Aeon the big boy at 7 months and 75 Lbs!!  

 Doesn't seem like we have had him for six months already! 

It is a dog's life!
~ Tammy ~

On to September

We welcome September with a long Labor Day weekend.  A great time to enjoy gathering with friends and family.  I call September "Summer's last hurrah!"  Time to enjoy the late summer temperatures through the heat of the days, and the warmth of the nights.

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The Summer lingers on for a few more weeks, as does the late summer beauty, like this Liriope.  

One of my favorites from my yard, taken this morning.  I enjoy it all the more when it's flowering these pretty lavender spikes!

Holding on to Summertime!...

~ Tammy ~