WillThink4Wine

My Valentine’s Day post is about my Love of The Swamp. My Thursday Thirteen is first. Scroll down for Karen’s Photo Contest #6. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Thursday Thirteen - 5th Edition

Thirteen Things I love about The Swamp

As some of you know, I moved to The Deep South, Georgia a few years ago. While my home is in a lovely subdivision built in an old Pecan Orchard, my office is located at The Swamp! My former business partner owns an unoccupied home on two acres overlooking The Swamp. And while he hopes someday to move back into the home, it’s currently my Office! Here’s 13 of the reasons I absolutely love it!

1. Tranquility. It is so peaceful! It even smells quiet.

2. Natural, protected wetlands. Nobody will ever be able to build and obstruct the view!

3. Cypress Trees

4. The pair of Canadian Geese that migrate here to mate each year. They arrived about 10 days ago. We can’t wait to see the Goslings again this Spring!

5. Red-Tailed Hawks

6. Beavers and all 4 of their dams

7. Racoons

8. Woodpeckers. We have 2 different species here, but I’m not sure which ours are. One of them is quite large!

9. The tall Georgia Pine Trees and Pine Cones.

10. No Alligators! Whew.

11. Our great neighbors. Everybody looks out for each other. They are the kind of neighbors that walk around to the back patio or just come in the back door. The kind of neighbors who bring you food when you’re not well. The kind that mow your yard.

12. Many, many kinds of birds: Crane, Egret, Cardinals, Finch, Wrens, Mockingbirds, Dove, Blue Jays, Black Birds, etc…

13. My cats, Gandalf & Grayson, love it here. They take full advantage of the expanded Hunting Ground!! Every day is full of potential for another new Purrfect Adventure!

One of my cats, Grayson and cousin Cosmo Kitty on a “Great Hunt at The Swamp”.

I am entering Karen’s contest and would appreciate your vote when polling starts at 5 PM Central on 2/15/08.

To me, LOVE IS… Spring at The Swamp.. unspoiled, natural, wonderful!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Tags: Cosmo, Daily G's, Grayson, The Swamp, Thursday Thirteen, Write From Karen

Thursday Thirteen - 3rd Edition

Thirteen Things for which I am Grateful

1. SisterDear2  - She is so amazing! SD2 did day care for 18 years or so while she raised her 2 boys. She was so great at it that her waiting list was a couple of years out. SD2 just graduated from Nursing School. She is now an RN! She just turned 51 before she graduated from college!  You go girl!

2. SisterDear3 - She is so inspiring! SD3 is wife to a cop and mother to 4 children. She has a daughter in college who happens to have Bipolar Disorder, a teenage son and twin 8 year old sons, one of whom is Autistic (PDD/NOS). She faces each day with faith, love, humor and grace. She finally got her son placed in what we hope will be a good fit for him. She is anxiously looking forward to re-joining the work force soon! She so needs to reacquaint herself with grown-up conversations again!

3. SisterDear4 - She is so incredible! SD4 has literally reinvented herself in the last 5 years since her divorce. She has a teenage son and a preteen daughter. She remodeled her entire home in the past couple of years. She can do it all! Bringing home the bacon, gardening, repairs, painting… She doesn’t always want to do it all, but she can and does.

4. My Cats - I can’t imagine my life anymore without my cats. I’ve always had dogs (Pekingese). I had just lost one little lovey and was in the final month of my other sweet puppy’s life when my cats found me. They totally rescued me.

5. My Business - Had someone told me 25 years ago that I would be self-employed I’d have told them they were nuts! I opened my first business (with a partner) in 1987. Since that day there hasn’t been a day that I did not look forward to going in to the Office. I look forward to Mondays - Go figure!

6. My Parents- I never expected to have my parents living with me. However, when I sold my first business and was looking for a house to buy in Georgia I asked them if they would also like to move with me. I was their only child (of eight!) living in Florida and I felt horrible about leaving them there, childless! They accepted and moved in with me and the Boys just about 2 years ago. I’m amazed at some of the stories my Dad tells me that I might never ever have heard unless they moved in with me. My Dad has a phenomenal memory that goes back to grade school. My Dad is 79! MotherDear is Queen of the Kitchen! She is my all-time favorite cook! Dinner is ready and on the table every night when I get home from work (even if I don’t feel like sitting down to dinner when I get home). This is just the coolest thing! I could go on and on about my parents. It’s been awesome having them here!

7. Health - I have not had any major health issues in the 14 years since my divorce. Coincidence? No, I don’t think so.

8. My Home - I joke quite a bit about hating the Yellow House. It had been painted just before the sellers put it on the market. Let me just say that Yellow is not my favorite color! I bought it in spite of the Yellow. But I am loving this house! I actually gave the Realtor a wish list with “Deal-Breakers” and stuck to it. I got everything on my list! How cool is that?

9. Family- There’s a couple of doosies in the basket, but mostly I have the most wonderful family anyone could ever wish for and we have such a great time together.

10. Friends - I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friends. Most I call family because they feel like family.

11. Wine - I am grateful to have discovered my affection for wine! Wine is an adventure for me while at the same time an old familiar friend.

12. My Walk-in Closet - My previous house was an adorable Cottage. I loved it. I absolutely hated to leave it. Cried my eyes out. I miss it. But I had NO closet!

13. God - I was brought up in the Catholic Church but somehow missed God completely. I found God and was saved when I was about 38 years old!

Tags: Sisters, Thought for the Day, Thursday Thirteen

2nd Edition

13 Things My Cats Nap On

1. The throw at the end of my bed. If there’s a blanket, throw, quilt, etc. at the end of the bed, that’s where they will be. There’s sometimes not room enough for me on the bed. It’s not widely known, but cats get bigified while sleeping.
2. Spare Bedroom bed, same thing as above except that there’s an entire extra king size quilt at the end of the bed. It’s intended for guests should they need an extra blanket. The cats are most appreciative.
3. My desk, while I’m using it. They also block my monitor at every available opportunity.
4. The couch. On the remote. And not at the end of the couch. No, no, no. It must be in the middle so nobody will think of disturbing them.
5. The piano. The bench if someone takes out sheet music.
6. The patio chairs, in the shade. Oh, as long as you’re going inside, would you mind bringing them back a nice cool glass of water?
7. Window sills are a favorite spot. They will lay on them for hours watching the world go by. If you happen to forget to open the blinds, they will remind you.
8. The coffee table. It’s especially enticing to them if I happen to want to light my candles.
9. In the bushes out front. I’m not sure they’re actually sleeping there. It may be that they’re just hiding on their intended prey.
10. On top of my freezer in the garage, which also serves as a handy bridge to the garage door tracks.
11. Any open drawer. Just turn your back for a second to grab some clean clothes out of the laundry basket. Even if they were outside when you turned to grab the clothes, they’ll be in the drawer once your hands are full of clothes.
12. The laundry basket. It lives in my closet and whenever they see the closet door open, they jump into the laundry basket.
13. In my lap. This is one of my excuses the main reasons some of my chores remain undone. I am the Lap Lady, and I am on duty 24/7 at the pleasure of my cats.

Gandalf & Grayson: We did our own Thursday Thirteen, come see! =^..^=

thursday thirteen

Tags: Daily G's, Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about WillThink4Wine 1st Edition Grow my new business to the point where I can once again have disposable income. Oooh. That would be lovely Discover a better wine store Get a puppy (I probably won’t, so don’t tell anyone, especially my mother or my cats) Change the lock on my front door, because MotherDear has trouble with it Start eating healthier again Paint my Yellow house a color that is not Yellow Fly up to see Mike & Danielle’s 1st home and attend the 1st Official Mike & Danielle 4th of July BBQ Paint my kitchen Attend a Symphony Remember to have my septic tank pumped Figure out how to stop my Investment Portfolio from hemorrhaging cash Spend a Sister Weekend with my 3 sisters Gather my entire family together for new Family Portraits

Tags: Thursday Thirteen