SANTORINI BLUE

When I was a little girl and would travel to Amarillo to visit my grandparents

we would pass by all the Route 66 Motels.

Amarillo is just about halfway..in fact Adrian, Texas is the very exact halfway mark between Chicago and LA on this famous and historic route

I was so inspired by each and every hotel, and still am...they are so quaint and one of a kind and capture a very romantic moment in time

Little did I know how much those little hotels impressed upon my design taste, especially the swimming pools.  The pools were all small, with fancy umbrellas and crisp blue water

LOVE

I am living my 8 year old dream of having a pool in my backyard and this summer's project has been an outdoor kitchen area

The first thing I did, as I almost always do...is let color inspire me

I loved Santorini...that blue is the prettiest color I have ever seen!

pinterest

I love the pots, the water, the stone, the vibe

the next thing I love are the fancy umbrellas

I purchased this paper parasol at Pier 1 and it is long gone in the Texas Panhandle breezes

I will always be on a search for another

last summer we added a pergola to the pool house and a privacy fence between our neighbor and us

we also purchased a large fountain

everyone matches!!

Miss Betty

Mr. PV and Cute Carpenter Man are working around this 100 year old elm tree

did I really go for orange umbrellas this year?  Sometimes I like when we have hail storms that tear up umbrella fabric

moving this brick patio was a very big and very hot project...we moved it under the covered kitchen area and replaced it here with gravel

concrete counter tops and this will be an Argentine grill

because my man likes to cook outside!  He likes to catch fire to meat!

I wanted to cover the face of the cinderblock with tile

similar to this...but this is not in this summer's budget

so I began looking on Pinterest for ideas to paint/stamp/stencil and found lots of very cool ideas

we seriously had a cold front on this day that dropped our temperatures to the low 80s

perfect for Pandora, paint, and some rum drink that starts with a P...oh yes...

Pineapple Rum...with an umbrella!

after I completed the "tile" and after I ordered stencils from 3 different ebay stores and after I took the question to Instagram...I think I might like the "tile" just the plain way that it is

and guess what...I spent about $8 on the whole project

next summer....

pinterest

pinterest

all those plans for next summer, next Christmas, next birthday, next year, next time

well....that's what makes time go by so darn fast

look back on the past with fondness, look forward to tomorrow

but cherish the time you are living in right now

and as for me....I just might go grab a room at the

WHAT ABOUT MARCELLA?

You don't want me to get into a political rant!  It's not nice.

My dad always taught me it was rude to discuss politics and religion and under no circumstances are you to ever

E.V.E.R.

ask who a person who they are voting for.

Especially this year...in this dynamic, boisterous, bombastic, heated 47%/47%/ election climate

do I understand what he meant.

that being said

I am a die hard

red through and through

most years I just check the Republican box

and for the record

I HEART TRUMP

he wasn't really my first choice since I was so excited to think of the possibility of another

Texas President

Perry or Cruz either way! 

but I am also a hippie so what I really want

is to  just live and let live and live in peace

which brings me to

Marcella

Marcella from Mexico

with his own bare hands

he turned this

into this

He is young, handsome, honest, sweet, kind, dear and so talented you just cannot believe it

he calls a sprinkler...sprinkles...he is also a farmer

in our town, there are 4 contractors and everyone of them are good and busy

so there is room for man like Marcella to be here.  He is not taking anyone's work.  He is employing others and teaching them skills.  He is raising his family.  He is spending my daughter's money on our local economy.

He adores his wife.  His children are in school.  He just wants to live here and he is scared. 

I want him to live here too. 

I want...for him...a way

surely

we can find a way

for him to own his

American Dream

JT GROUPIES

Living on Tulsa Time

at the BOK Center

we didn't have days and days to spend on this mini vacay

so we made the best of  our short stay for sure!

here we are, JT Groupies and Back Up Singers

celebrating at The Daily Grill at the Tulsa Hyatt

right before he goes on stage and just a mere block away

his music was amazing of course

and his band was exceptional

I must admit, though I do love Oklahoma, that I was state jealous when he talked about Oklahoma with such fondness rather than my Texas...I'm guessing he did that in Lubbock a few weeks before because his first song was a Buddy Holly song...sweet!

back at home our Betty took first place in the Butterfly

this is her 2nd year to swim and the Fly is the most difficult of all

and little Henry?  well thanks to little Henry

Grace was able to grab this shot because

JT's son is also Henry

way to go Grace!!!

And one of us in the group is a different kind of

groupie...he likes The Pioneer Woman and we couldn't drive through Oklahoma without seeing her new building in Pawhuska and the entrance to her ranch!

~PURA VIDA~

HERE I BE

When he came to Dallas in 1995

me and my bo peep were there

She was 16.....

what 16 year old back then even knew who James Taylor was?

**FAINT**

When he came to Lubbock in May 2016....it was in the middle of the week and

even though our baby bo peep lives there and it would have been a good chance to visit

week days and work days are just too hard to drive 6 hours there and back for a concert

BUT.....when he added TULSA to is list for June 24

on a FRIDAY

BOK Center in Tulsa

well.....here we be...do you see those 4 seats right in the middle?

me...her...and our men

**FAINT**

yes....there we be...me and my James Taylor loving gal...35 now...

and we still love us some James Taylor!  Tomorrow and Forever!

Which is your favorite James Taylor song?

LOVE BIRDS

Did you know that cardinals (and other birds) feed each other?

ROMANCE

Scientists have offered three different theories to explain courtship feeding: (1) courtship feeding allows females to evaluate the kind of parent a male would make for her offspring, (2) courtship feeding strengthens the bond between mated males and females, or (3) courtship feeding provides nesting females with extra nutrition during a time when they can’t travel far to forage.

I sit most mornings very early, drinking a cup of coffee, reading my bible, thinking about the day before me...watching nature wake up.

The last few days I have seen a pair of cardinals at my feeder and witnessed the male hopping over to the female and gently placing a seed in her beak.  I could  not stand how precious this was!! 

I began to read a little bit about it and you can too at the link above.

I told my daughter this morning

"let your man be the man...depend on him to take care of you in all ways...and you do the same for him in the ways you can....

a tidy home that smells like supper when he walks in...laundry tumbling...baby sleeping..fire burning, flowers on the window sill....

let him earn the living

you make life worth the living

romance in the most simple form

right outside my window

*PURA VIDA*

SWEET BEE STUFF

I am learning so much stuff in the middle of the night, when I can't sleep and get on my iPad and read about bees.

This week, I've been learning about the problems of  beekeeping  and I found this so fascinating that I want to share with you.

It seems that bees can get mites and from what I understand, they are much like a tick or a flea...a pest that they can control on their own, but can get out of hand in some cases...but here's the coolest part that still blows my mind...to treat them...you dust them with powdered sugar!

WHAT???

So a few weeks ago, our hive swarmed and in my early morning education I found that

this was really a good thing...nature's way of bees multiplying

our bees simply ran out of room

so I hurried and ordered a new hive and an upstairs for my existing hive, knowing that this is the time of year to be swarming and I wanted to be ready to catch another one if the chance came our way

and it did!!

we got a phone call from a teacher who had a swarm in her backyard

So the Mister and I grabbed our outfits and off we went!

video from Beekeeping Like a Girl

this was a very each catch and the bees were so docile

he put them in a box

and we brought them to 822

where we had lots of pretty flowers

and then...... 

YIKES!!!  One of those very scary storms brewed up in the west

and it was so bad that we even made the news on The Today Show!

Flowers...gone

Roses....gone

Tree leaves...gone

BOO!

Bees in cardboard Nuc box?

Damaging hail, high winds, flooding rain

They hung in there until we could put them in their new home

well hello new bees! 

hope you like your new cute bee house!

Beekeeping Like a Girl

Practical Smoker Fuel

KEEPER OF THE BEES

When Mr. PV goes to his PRPC meetings, the office is on 8th Street which is near 6th Street and a long line of quaint antique shops that I love to visit.

Last time I came upon a new one and made a new friend

her name is

Kim Beauchamp of

Camelot Antiques

her quirky personality made me instantly like her

I came across the most wonderful old book

The Keeper of the Bees

1925 by Gene Stratton-Porter

even in its delicate condition I promised myself to read it

the first of two art plates....I have looked at this many many times

it is so pretty

and not long into the old wonderful smelling pages, I read these words--

....and dimly he was beginning to formulate in his own mind the feeling the world was made up of good people and bad people, of selfish people and thoughtful people, of cruel people and kind people, and it was merely a case of luck as to which kind you met when you went on a great adventure.....

in my brand new age old bee world

I have found those words to be so true

I am lucky to find so many good, thoughtful, and kind

~PURA VIDA~