Someone close to me told me...........

"........ the most important thing in living is love. All the things so many people think are important are not so important. By loving you leave a memory that will hold up long after we pass on. With love as our goal, we love those around us and the simple things in life come alive. Living this type of life will insure a legacy that will carry on for many years after we are gone."

April 3, 2008

Three year old Matthew opening Grammie's birthday gift.....

New picture of six year old Ashylnn

Summer posted this cute picture of Ashlynn on her blog,

so I "snagged" it to share the photo with all of you.

Sounds like rain.......

A few weeks into spring I noticed two little baby squirrels running around my backyard playing in the Pecan trees and drinking from the dish I had set out for the many beautiful birds who eat from my bird feeders. I thought they were so cute and enjoyed watching them play....I even didn't mind them occasionally eating from the bird feeders....after all they were babies and needed to eat too!! Well, it's autumn now and those two baby squirrels have grown up and are still playing in the yard, but I no longer think of them being cute!! They are not eating from the bird feeders any longer........no, they have found something they like soooo much better. My pecans!! Those two little squirrels have brought their sisters and brothers with them to my backyard to dine in my trees and they have almost completely stripped my trees of every pecan. When you are in the backyard you can hear the bits and pieces of pecans (whole ones too!) fall from the trees. It sounds like it is raining when all six of the squirrels are dining!! Bits of pecans fall on the bricks below and the toxic shells are staining as they fall......purple splotches everywhere!! Sometimes those stupid squirrels drop untouched pecans to the ground......which rather makes me mad. Such a waste of good pecans.....at least they could eat the whole nut! I have tried everything to get rid of them....throwing rocks, throwing fallen pecans, and even attempted to spray them with a hose. The squirrels just 'laugh' at me and continue to dine! I no longer think them cute.....they are destructive little beasts and I am buying a pellet gun for next year!! It's too late to save the pecan crop for this year, but next year............I am making squirrel soup!!!

Love all those emails which are forwarded on to me by all of you. Some of them make me "laugh out loud".........case in point this one from my friend Billy here in Texas:

White Lie Cake

Have you ever told a white lie? You are going to love this, especially all of those who bake for church events. Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies' Group in Tuscaloosa, but forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel food cake mix and quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack for Scout camp. When Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured. She thought, "Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake." This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake. Alice found it in the bathroom - a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect. Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home. when Amanda arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold. She grabbed her cell phone and called her Mom. Alice was horrified - she was beside herself. Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about, and ridiculed! All night Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking abut her behind her back. The next day, Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shouwer at the home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. Alice did not want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at Alice because she was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa but, having already RSVP'd, she couldn't think of a believable excuse to stay home. The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old South and to Alices's horror......the cake in question was presented for dessert!! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake. She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the Mayor's wife said, "What a beautiful cake!" Alice still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, "Thank you, I baked it myself."

Alice smiled and thought to herself...."GOD IS GOOD."

Who is the artist??

My father, Gilbert L. Heller

November 26, 1942

Cancer Angel......

My girlfriend, Donna, in California sent me an email this week with this beautiful little angel scattering red rose petals onto the water. The picture is beautiful by itself, however, the email itself is way more powerful and close to home......the email says "In memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it."


This past week our family received news that Gary's cancer has spread to his liver. He will continue chemo and go back to doing acupuncture and Chinese medicine as well. He has a powerful will to live and does all he can to take care of himself. His next doctor's visit will be in two months to see whether or not the chemo he is doing right now will help. I ask for your prayers for not only him, but for our children. Although the news of this past week has knocked the wind out of all of us.....we know we have our Savior to comfort us and to remind us He is here and we need not be afraid as He loves us and gives us hope.

Cancer is so limited.

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

I cannot corrode faith.

It cannot destroy peace.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot suppress memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot steal eternal life.

It cannot conquer the spirit.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for the cure of Cancer. Amen

Catch up with me.......

Well, as you can tell I have not blogged in almost two weeks until today and now I am trying to play catch up with important happenings.......and posting pictures. My computer is not available on a daily basis for me to blog or keep in touch with everyone with emails.....we have a weekend connection until I pay for cable to be installed at my little 1919 bungalow!

For those of you who do not know where Fort Worth is - NORTH TEXAS!! And today I am quite glad to be in north Texas and not southeast Texas where "Hurricane Ike" has hit this wonderful state and pounded it hard!! Lots of rain.....lots of damage......it is headed to north Texas, but all we will see is heavy winds and 1 to 2 inches of rain. We need the rain and I am looking forward to settling down in front of the television set with a cup of hot tea and watching silly old movies. It will by no means be on the cold side outdoors.....warm and humid, but I am going to watch the rain fall and pretend as I am sipping my hot tea.....it's cold outside.

My garden is still growing and since the hottest part of summer is over.....my garden is starting to produce more vegetables and fruit. I finally have watermelons, peppers, and tomatoes and I am happy. When I first planted.....all was well and things were producing...then the hot Texas summer hit and all was almost lost! Daily I struggled and resisted the tempation to pull out the half dead or dying plants....my Mother, the supreme gardener, kept telling me..."let the garden alone and just let it go!" My backyard garden was like having a bunch of teenagers....tempermental and crying for individual attention. Frankly, it was driving me crazy!

I did let things "go".....I continued to water and watch and I admit...I eventually pulled up five squash plants because I just couldn't take the pressure any longer!! Today things are going well....all I want is for at least one of my three watermelons to grow BIG so I can harvest it! I laugh when I recall blogging (bragging) about having to put a vegetable stand in my front yard to sell ALL the produce I was going to harvest this summer.....God has such a way of humbling us!! I may not have had an abundance of fruit and vegetables this summer as I expected but, I had fun with the garden any way. To have one or not to have one next year......that's the question on my mind right now!!

I continue to help Nimia with her house.....lots of sanding and priming walls! Lots of physical labor and at night I am tired!! Even all that work I did in my yard does not compare to the intensity of what I do during the day now!!! I have fun though....at least for now!!

Fall is on it's way.....can you believe that it is in the middle of September already? Where is the time going???? Soon the holidays will be upon us and it will be soooo much fun!! Can't wait!!

Happy Birthday Grandaughter Ashlynn.....

Ashlynn and Jeremy

Happy Birthday, Ashlynn....Grammie wishes she had been there to help

celebrate your sixth birthday!! Loved hearing you giggle when I called

you on your birthday!! Love you and miss you lots.....xoxoxo

(Ashlynn turned six September 10th)

Warning...........

When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

by Jenny Joseph

When I am a old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain and pick flowers in other people's gardens and learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat and eat three pounds of sausages at a go or only bread and pickles for a week and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry and pay our rent and not swear in the street and set a good example for the children. We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now. So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised when suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

(For years I have loved this little poem and for some silly reason I love it just as much today as I did ten years ago when I came across it in a book I purchased.)